File photo. Photo: 123RF
Prison rehab programmes fail to work, and investment in drug treatment courts would help cut crime, a former addict says.
The Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court (AODTC) was launched as a pilot in 2012, and provides an alternative to incarceration for offenders with alcohol or drug addiction.
It began in Auckland and Waitakere, before being expanded to Hamilton in 2021.
Despite two-thirds of prisoners inside jail having problems with substance abuse, no further courts have been established.
James Sturch spent most of his 20s in jail due to his methamphetamine addiction. Photo: Supplied
Auckland resident James Sturch spent most of his teenage years in prison for supply of methamphetamine. He had been sustaining his own addiction.
"My father was a real bad alcoholic and abusive towards my mother, who was also an alcoholic, so I grew up a resentful little kid, without any support, without any role model. I ended up going to prison when I was 20 years old, doing crime to fund my drug habit.
"I had my 21st birthday in prison. And when I got out... I relapsed and reoffended. I was a career criminal."
Sturch said he struggled to understand his addiction issues.
"I didn't even know that I was an addict. I just thought about what I knew growing up: If you have a bad time, you get high, you have a good time, you get high.
"I just thought that was my life, just committing crime, doing drugs, re-offending and doing prison time."
He was accepted into the AODTC programme after his last conviction of four years and eight months in prison, also due to drug supply.
"You have to be under 36 months indication to get into the drug court and I was just a little bit over it, but I was lucky enough that my lawyer convinced the judge to take a chance on me."
Now a peer support specialist in the court, Sturch said finding out about the programme was life-changing.
It meant joining a therapeutic community where everyone was healing - but it was not easy, he said.
"I went into treatment, and it gave me the opportunity to work on all that trauma that I went through as a child. Some things are hard to hear - but healing, too."
He said the programme was a chance for offenders to understand the consequences of their habits.
"I got the opportunity to sit down with the victims of my crimes and explain to [them] what I was going through at the time, how sorry I was and what I'm doing with my life now.
"And [they] also had the time to tell me how I impacted them as well."
Sturch said rehabilitation programmes inside prison were only a pathway for bail.
"They were just there to tick a box, to keep us occupied, to get me to the next best unit within the jail.
"[I would] just go do these courses in prison to show the whole board that I'm playing by the game. And the courses people do in jail don't do anything, they are very basic."
He said having more drug courts would take pressure off the criminal justice system.
"When people get incarcerated, they get lost in the system, they get forgotten about, and it's just another court date for them.
"But when you enter into the drug court, you get actually rehabilitated. They get to the core of the problem - they treat you like a person."
The rehab programme should be rolled out nationally, Sturch said.
"Do you know the number of people that go to jail because they are addicted, sick, and sometimes don't even know a way out of it?
"If I was rehabilitated when I was 20 years old instead of incarcerated, my whole life could have turned out different."
The programmes didn't just treat the addict; they also allowed victims to have their say, and would save millions for the government, Sturch said.
"In the light of so many benefits, I can't see why we don't have AODTCs in every court in this country.
"Imagine how much money could we save from avoiding people going to jail by treating them?
"I mean, it costs a lot from taxpayers to keep someone inside - I reckon it would be millions."
Roger Brooking. Photo: Supplied
Addiction treatment in prison ineffective - criminologist
In 2019, the Ministry of Justice presented a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) asserting that the court was costly, with limited benefits.
Wellington criminologist Roger Brooking disputed the analysis, citing potential flaws in methodology and advocating for the effectiveness of AODTCs.
The Ministry disagreed and said it had done the analysis as best as it could using the data available.
However, in a 2019 outcomes evaluation report, the Ministry reported that AODTCs significantly reduced reoffending rates compared to a matched group of offenders.
Brooking said rehabilitation treatments inside prison had little effect in reducing reoffending.
In 2021, Corrections' Annual Report listed 23 different prison-based interventions intended to reduce recidivism."
"They found the average reduction in reoffending across all 23 programmes was only 2.3 percent…. and [The Department of] Corrections spent $322.2 million on them."
AODTCs would save the government millions of dollars per year, Brooking said.
"Each [drug] court processes approximately 100 defendants a year, and nearly half of them graduate.
"If we had 20 drug courts, that would keep around 1000 defendants a year out of prison... a potential saving of $150 million per annum."
"Very effective" - Judge
Waitakere District Court judge Lisa Tremewan had worked with AODTC since its establishment.
She said it demanded commitment, but brought exceptional results.
"The programme is very challenging. [Offenders] are scrutinised, they are drug-tested - it's really a full-time programme. But the results can be transformational."
Judge Tremewan noted that many participants who had caused harm to the community saw their lives change after addressing their addiction issues in AODTCs.
"We have them working in roles such as peer support, clinical roles, even senior clinical roles, and they have a lot to offer because... they have that life experience that they're able to bring to their work.
"It's inspiring for others who they might be working with because they can see that a recovery journey is possible. It's very effective."
"Addiction not totally cured by an intervention - Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice spokeswoman Rebecca Parish said it would not be looking further into the effectiveness of the existing drug courts.
She said referrals to them had dropped since 2017, and more people were re-offending over time because chronic addiction was hard to break.
Parish said the recently launched initiative Te Ao Mārama - Enhancing Justice for All was aiming to improve courts and make them more equitable.
"It is being realised by incorporating best practice knowledge, skills and approaches learned from specialist courts, including the AODT Court."
She said the effectiveness of AODT Court in reducing reoffending and imprisonment tended to decline over time.
"Because addiction is a chronic, relapsing disorder not generally totally cured by an intervention. Recidivism experts recommend using reoffending follow-up periods of at least three years."
Minister for Courts Nicole McKee said expanding the drug courts would not be straightforward.
"There are practical requirements to expanding the AODT Court, including the availability of suitable treatment facilities and practitioners."
The minister did not comment on whether she had any plans for extending the programme, saying courts were subject to the budget process.