A recent BBC News report highlights a significant shift in the UK’s approach to tackling addiction and crime.
The government has announced the expansion of judge-supervised drug and alcohol treatment sentences, a move designed to relieve pressure on overcrowded prisons and to give people struggling with addiction a genuine chance to change their lives for the better.
The scheme, called Intensive Supervision Courts, is based on the “problem-solving courts” model first developed in Texas.
Instead of sending people with significant drug and alcohol problems directly to prison, judges can put them in an intensive, structured treatment programme.
Key features of the treatment programme include:
If you don’t comply with the conditions set, you might end up with prison time. But for those who commit to the process, the programme offers a route out of the cycle of addiction and any resulting offences.
An individual benefiting from this approach to treatment is 28-year-old Kane Lawrenson, who narrowly avoided being sent to prison earlier this year after pleading guilty to using violence to secure entry.
Instead, he was able to enter a two-year intensive programme to help him recover from his drug use.
Kane had previously been in and out of prison four times, due to multiple offences such as reckless driving and supplying Class A drugs (linked with his own substance use).
Now, with the support of his probation officer, a recovery practitioner, and regular check-ins with Judge Moira Macmillan at Bristol Crown Court, his life has turned around.
He told the BBC:
“I’m really excited for the future… No longer am I waking up looking to see if there’s a plate with residue on it. Now I’m waking up thinking, let’s have my protein shake, let’s go to the gym… Every day I can go to sleep and think you’ve actually made something productive out of the day.”
Judge Macmillan praised Kane’s progress, describing his transformation as “incredibly impressive.”
Early evaluations of pilot schemes in Liverpool, Teesside, Birmingham and Bristol prove that this approach can have encouraging results.
Convicted offenders with addiction problems who joined up the programme tested clean for drugs two-thirds of the time.
According to the Ministry of Justice, this is clear evidence that the model is effective, both in terms of reducing substance use and lowering reoffending rates.
The financial aspect is also convincing: prison costs are around £53,000 per person each year, compared to the lower costs of treatment-based rehab alternatives that can offer long-term benefits for both the individual and wider community.
At Rehab 4 Addiction, we know that addiction is both a health issue and a justice issue.
Locking people up without addressing the root causes of their substance use often keeps them in a cycle of relapse and reoffending.
The expansion of judge-supervised rehab treatment proves an understanding that:
Advanced recovery practitioner Zara McKee, who has been working with people on the scheme, said:
“I do think more of that is because they feel supported, and they are more genuinely inclined to want to make changes.”
The scheme offers more than just a UK policy shift, it’s a sign that the justice system is starting to treat addiction differently.
Not everyone is eligible for the programme, but the expansion of such a scheme gives hope to those whose lives have been defined by addiction and repeated prison time.
For people like Kane, this is not about avoiding punishment, it’s about being given the chance to face accountability and still have the support network that is necessary to recover.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g8gj622d2o
