Wasted £750m to prosecute addicts as experts warn it is money for nothing
Experts warn £750m spent prosecuting addicts each year achieves little and should be spent ending dependency and cutting crime
Crime linked to Scotland’s drug problem costs £750 million a year to investigate and prosecute, we can reveal today, as experts warn the money could – and must – be better spent on breaking the addiction driving offending.
The scale of how much drugsrelated offending costs the criminal justice system in investigation, prosecution and incarceration has been calculated, as deaths, already the highest in Europe, climbed to 1,339 last year.
Today, leading experts from across the justice system urge more resource for rehab services and effective community sentences for drug users to break the cycle of drugs, crime and prison. Community Justice Scotland chief executive Karyn Mccluskey said: “Just imagine the real difference we could make if these sort of sums were spent on building rehab units for people with drug and alcohol problems so the moment they ask for help they get it and they don’t end up in the revolving door of the criminal justice system.”
Crime linked to Scotland’s drug problem costs £750 million a year to investigate and prosecute, we can reveal, as experts warn the money could – and must – be better spent on breaking the addiction driving the offending.
The scale of how much drugs-related crime costs the criminal justice system has been calculated as deaths, already the highest in Europe, rose to 1,339 last year, now more than three times the level in England and Wales.
There are growing calls for specialised drugs courts, where convicted offenders are steered towards community justice programmes, rehab and support, to be extended. The courts have been trialled but not pursued, despite Sheriff Lindsay Wood confirming Scotland’s only drug court, in Glasgow, has been a notable success.
He said: “The court does not follow the traditional set-up and sentences are passed based on practical treatments. It allows a more one-to-one approach between the sheriff and the offender, leading to life-changing results. In my time in the court I have witnessed some incredible stories where people have turned their life around and now help others who have addictions.
“The court helps break the cycle between drug dependency and crime, which benefits the offender, but also has benefits for victims, their families, the NHS, the prison estate and for society at large.”
Offenders who complete the programme have a graduation ceremony and the opportunity to thank those who have helped them. Wood said: “I reply on behalf of the court team. I step down from the bench, give them their certificate and shake their hand. For some of these individuals, this has been their only tangible achievement in life. They’ve been more or less condemned all their days.”
The Uk-wide Centre for Justice Innovation has hailed the Glasgow scheme and Duncan Lugton, its head of policy, said: “There is strong evidence adult drug courts reduce substance misuse and reoffending. These courts see that justice is done and provide support to help people tackle the drug problems that brought them to court in the first place.
“Rolling out this type of court more widely across Scotland would give more people who are struggling with addiction the chance to turn their lives around.”
The Glasgow drug court was set up in 2001 while a similar one held at Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy courts was forced to shut in 2013 after the closure of Cupar Sheriff Court meant there was insufficient room to accommodate it.
Studies have estimated there are 60,000 problem drug users in Scotland. The Scottish Centre of Crime and Justice Research found in 2011 that the social and economic cost of illicit drug use was just less than £3.5 billion, or £61,000 per problem drug user. It added estimated costs of crime per individual reduced from £13,000 to £1,500 for those in treatment for more than a year. It estimated the total criminal justice costs of drug misuse in Scotland at over £500m per year.
Our analysis suggested the figure has risen to £750m, factoring in the proportion of the work of Scotland’s criminal justice system which is linked to drug
misuse. About 15% of recorded crimes last year were drugs-related, equating to about £200m per year as a proportion of police and Crown Office budgets alone.
Several hundred million more is added when court and prison service costs are included, with studies showing 75% of prisoners who were tested showed positive for drugs. Substance misuse is also linked to significant proportions of local authority criminal justice social workers and community justice budgets.
Drug experts agree treatment rather than criminalisation is best for addicts. David Liddell, chief executive of Scottish Drugs Forum, said: “Treatment is the best means we have of ensuring people stay alive and are supported. We need to divert people from criminal justice into the health and care systems that are better placed to support them in addressing their drug and other problems.”
Community Justice Scotland chief executive Karyn Mccluskey contrasted the amounts spent within the justice system with what was spent on treatment. She said: “We’re spending around £100m replacing Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow and probably millions more to replace Scotland’s crumbling prisons which is, in reality, a commitment to continue jailing young people, ready for our youngest generation who are only toddlers now.
“Just imagine the real difference we could make if these sort of sums were spent on building rehab units for people
It’s not about being soft or hard. This is smart justice
with drug and alcohol problems so that the moment they ask for help they get it, so they don’t end up in the revolving door of the criminal justice system.
“That would be a far more effective way of preventing and breaking the cycle of young people entering the criminal system than locking them up and sending them to places where they won’t get the medical, psychological and support services they really need.”
Criminal defence solicitor Iain Smith, of Keegan Smith, who regularly attends drug courts, said 80% to 90% of his clients were stuck in a cycle of low-level crime linked to drink and drug abuse, in itself linked to childhood trauma such as poverty, abuse or domestic violence.
He said: “We need radical change so services are put in at childhood to prevent the trauma happening, and far more support to divert young people into colleges or community programmes that will help them change their lives forever instead of just locking them up only to continue the cycle when they are released. We need to get to the root cause of why they are offending and place resources into that.”
Tony Bone, of Tony Bone Defence, a former police chief inspector who spent years working in Scotland’s hugely successful Violence Reduction Unit before becoming a solicitor, also pointed to childhood trauma as a cause of addiction.
He said: “Ten years ago we recognised the criminal justice system wasn’t working. Now it’s critical. But we still have an opportunity for recovery if we turn everything on its head and move forward with compassion and support rather than simply punishment.”
Dave Barrie, service manager of Dundee-based addiction service We Are With You, said: “We need to look much more at prevention, how we support people into recovery and back into work. Keeping people out of prison and trying to address their underlying issues makes sense both for the person and in terms of the overall cost to society.
“I was involved in the drugs court in Fife and the model was very effective. There was much more joined-up thinking between the court and agencies. The client was at the centre of attempts to try to address their situation and the outcomes were positive. The evidence is there to support the effectiveness of drug courts.”
Scott Fergusson, 48, was caught in a cycle of addiction and reoffending for 24 years and had spent nine years in prison until a community sentence, instead of jail, gave him a chance to turn his life around. Today he is a recovery development officer for Addictions Support and Counselling in Forth Valley where he uses his own experiences to help others.
He said: “Low-level offending and drug misuse, particularly with young people, should be treated with community-based support rather than sending people to prison. That would mean a better chance for earlier interventions to change their lives sooner.
“At my lowest point, I did feel everyone had given up on me. I felt so hopeless. It’s like a world away from where I am now.”
Labour’s justice spokeswoman, Pauline Mcneill MSP, said: “Drugs courts should be rolled out further in Scotland and I would like to see them set up in, say, Dundee, Edinburgh in the first instance.
“I would like to see these set up with a sense of urgency. It’s an obvious point that could help us save money by tackling repeat offending, and reduce drugrelated crime and drug-related deaths.”
Chief Superintendent Suzie Mertes, president (elect) of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said: “We are only too aware of the devastation that addiction causes on families and communities, and its wider impact on society including the criminal justice system. We recognise that we can’t arrest our way out of addiction, and that we must find effective solutions to support those individuals, families and communities most affected by substance misuse.”
The Scottish Government said: “We believe the best way to reduce drug-related crime and drug-related death is to get people into appropriate treatment and support services when they need it, including at every point of the criminal justice system. As part of this approach, we are continuing to support the Glasgow Drug Court in its aims to reduce the level of drug-related offending behaviour in the city and to reduce or eliminate individuals’ dependency on drugs.
“Any decision to establish a drug court would be taken locally, with problemsolving justice driven by local initiatives to address issues and priorities identified in each area.”