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NEWS: Carr announces 'drug-jail' for NSW - ABC News 28/10/03

Flexistentialist

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Carr announces 'drug-jail' for NSW

Australia's first compulsory drug treatment jail is to be established in New South Wales, targeting serial drug offenders.

New South Wales Premier Bob Carr says he will release draft legislation before the end of the year detailing the initiative.

Mr Carr says it will be modeled on similar programs in the United States and the Netherlands and will see repeat drug offenders locked up and forced to undergo total abstinence.

The trial program will initially deal only with adult male offenders from western Sydney, but if successful, will be extended to female offenders.

I'm not sure whether this is a step in the right direction. I wonder what the success rates are for forced abstinence. For people who actually want to stop using, this might just be the break they need to get off.

But what about everyone else who's being forced into treatment? What happens when they're released from "drug jail"? I don't think this will prove very effective in keeping people drug free in the long term.

I suppose treatment is better than punishment, but this seems to be a mix of the two.
 
God Carr is so right wing, almost as bad as the dwarf with the bushy eyebrows!
Drug Jails, pffft if they can't even keep drugs out of maximum security prisons i doubt they'll be able to keep them out of a so called 'drug jail'. Laughable idea really, no real logic behind it, except if your a right wing prohibitionist and believe drugs can really be eliminated from society altogether.
As for treatment being better than punishment, i'd agree in principle although in many cases it isn't. One only has to look at author's like Solinge on CEDRO for the negative impact of the medicalisation of drug abuse and the development of the epidemiological arguments much beloved by psychiatrists and medical professionals- in terms of the negative view of drugs in today's society they have almost as much to answer for as the moralists!
Until we recognise that drug use is a self-limiting behaviour and has nothing to do with the interventions of the state or medical profession we will continue to have ridiculous suggestions such as these as solutions to the 'drug problem'
 
Mr Carr says it will be modeled on similar programs in the United States

Because their whole model of drug enforcement/treatment has been such a boon to society, not to mention highly successful in stemming their drug problems.

Gotta be Tough On Crime, I suppose.
 
is bob 'two bob' carr gunna jail alcoholics and cigarettes smokers as well, to rid them of their evil state sponsored addiction? and what about pokie gamblers?

i hasten to add........NOPE.

the bullshit of politics.....don't you love it!
 
im neither for or against the whole thing, dont really care.

but something important in his statement i heard while driving home on triple J.

"drug users who commit serious crimes to pay for their drug addiction, will be committed and not released until sober".

hes really only addressing junkies as i see it.
and dont give me your definition of junkie im being generalistic here
im not up for an argument just that i thought that was a valid point.


BTW how much will this brilliant idea cost - a pfft a drug jail
could that money better be spent on drug education.

that old saying.
'prevention is better than cure'
'knowledge is power'

if society was more open and people were educated there would be no need for these 'drug jails'.
 
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hmm I dont like the sound of "Mr Carr says it will be modeled on similar programs in the United States..."

as far as i know the USA has pretty "extreme" laws towards drug use. Which have pretty much been proven useless in the "war on drugs".

I dont like the sound of it, and I hope the whole idea doesnt get very far.
 
"The trial program will initially deal only with adult male offenders from western Sydney, but if successful, will be extended to female offenders."

oh and one more thing before i go.. whats the differance between a male and a female drug user?
 
I think somewhere, someone left out the word 'choice":p


Any offer of state funded rehab is an excellent idea, providing of course it's completely volunteer based 8)

I wonder what Mr Carr thinks makes a repeat offender any different to those who neither get caught nor have a drug problem, yet use regularly?
These are simply those who have avoided detection the first time and therefore don't have to wait out the inevitable next visit. You know the old "expect a knock forever after" cry, which is more psychologically damaging to any family than informed, sensible use of any common rec. drug :X

Rehabilitating anyone who doesn't want to be there is a joke. So what if they pass the test? If the will ain't there to begin with and can't be coercively instilled, the first day out will be the best drug experience ever ;)

Is this the first response to the UN report? :|
 
Funny how Australia can use the soveignty card when it's a matter of our policy on detention of child asylum seekers breaching international conventions on the rights of the child yet whenever it's something to do with drug policy we tow the line like it's legally binding. Funny that.
I hope this isn't the first response to the UN report, worse could follow
 
^ Uh that's the whole point of sovereignty. You pick and choose what to follow according to your country's interests.

Back on topic, forced rehab doesn't do much for anyone. And this isn't a long term solution by any means - just another superficial gesture by the government to satisfy voters.
 
^^^^^^

Should have left the 'country's' out of 'their country's interests'.

Unfortunately it looks like this is more fucking election mongering and crap which is no doubt going to be entirely unsuccessful (unless it is voluntary). I mean, who the hell isn't, if they are forced to go on a government prison break, going to go straight back on afterwards? I'd imagine the number who'd actually use it to get off drugs would be pretty low.

-plaz out-
 
on the plus side, this is arguably the first time the government is starting to admit that drug users should not neccessarily be lumped together with thugs, murderers and other dangerous criminals.


I think theres nothing wrong with the idea in principal to be honest. Im sure I wont approve of the execution of the idea, but a detox centre per se isnt so bad. just as people can say "i waz under the influence of drugs, and not in my proper frame of mind" as an excuse for commiting a crime, i think its fair to say that a junkie is not in a position to make an unbiased decision on whether they want to quit or not. Maybe the centers dont work at all, i have no idea, but if there was a high security detox centre and addicts were detoxed for 2 weeks (i definately include alcoholics in this) or so before being released, then this IS harm minimization to me.

for example, a wife of a drunkard (or addict) who spends the entire income and becomes violent every night, has little power to do anything. Eventually the husband may go to prison for trying to recoup gambling/alcohol/drug related debts , leaving the children fatherless. to my knowledge, there is nothing the wife can do to stop this downward spiral.....

but once free of the disease of addiction (momentarily anyway) the father may decide to turn his life around.
yeah i know, this is your usual A Current Affair type scenario, but i do believe addiction is a disease and can cause serious problems for others around that person (and the person as well of course). obviously kicking addiciton long term is way more than a week or 2 of detox, but at least u have a free mind to decide if u will use again.


after all, if the dutch have a similar system, it cant be too bad.

anyway, Im sure Carr is just up to his old dirty media stunts again, and that the whole thing, if implemented, turns into a farce. will it be done the dutch way, or the way of the mighty u s of a? ill let u decide for yourselves...
 
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