Drugs and Alcohol
Evaluation of drug testing in the criminal justice system
The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 sets out provisions for the use of drug testing for specified Class A drugs for individuals aged 18 and over who have been charged or convicted of "trigger offences" such as, property crime, robbery and specified Class A drug offences.
Title: Evaluation of drug testing in the criminal justice system
Author: Matrix research and Consultancy and NACRO
Series: Home Office Research Study 286
Date Published: July 2004
Number of pages: 136
Objectives...
The objectives of the drug-testing provision are:
'to deter drug misuse whilst under criminal justice supervision and to identify offenders who should be receiving treatment and monitoring their progress'.
The testing provision covers individuals while they are:
On-charge: within police stations
Awaiting sentencing: (pre-sentence) when the court is considering the imposition of a community sentence
Drug Abstinence Order (DAO): for those in a specified target group where a community sentence is not appropriate
Drug Abstinence Requirement (DAR) as a condition of a community sentence
Required to take drug tests as part of their condition of release from prison (probation treatment)
Advantages of the drug testing…
It can assist other rehabilitative and punitive interventions.
Drug consumption could be reduced via increased access to treatment services.
More appropriate sentencing to balance punishment, protection and offender rehabilitation could impact on behaviour.
Drug testing could provide more accurate information about the population's use of Class A drugs resulting in more appropriate policing and drug treatment strategies.
In order for the scheme to be successful the operations team must ensure:
Those arrested are offered arrest referral services
The tester has the skills and knowledge to motivate individuals to access either arrest referral services or treatment.
Test information is passed to the court and taken into account in bail/sentencing decisions.
Individuals who need it have access to treatment.
Aggregated test information is used to inform the strategy development.
Results…
The drug testing pilot programme for the Home Office was announced by Mr Bob Ainsworth on 27th July 2001. By the end of October 2003, 17,586 on-charge tests had been undertaken on 11,276 individuals. The testing was successful in all areas, and had few refusals from the individuals. The proportion of positive tests varied from 36 per cent to 65 per cent. The vast majority of detainees were male and unemployed and almost all (95%) thought they had been treated fairly or very fairly during the testing process.
Pre-sentence testing was infrequently used across most of the sites; a total of 64 pre-sentence tests were requested across the 9 sites.
Reasons for the low use of pre-sentence tests included:
Those in the position to carry out tests, did not fully understand the use and purpose of the tests
The availability of pre-sentence tests was not made clear by pilot managers
There was a lack of facilities within courts to undertake tests
Within the period of the evaluation, 1,462 Drug Abstinence Requirements (DARs) have been ordered across all 9 areas. All sites have developed the capacity in terms of staffing, skills and equipment to deliver DAO/DARs. Nearly all (98%) of people under the DAO/DAR felt that they were treated fairly or very fairly during the whole testing process.
Over 3 quarters of people tested (81%) also thought that it was right that people sentenced by the court can have a drug-testing condition attached as part of their sentence.
Drugs testing after release (probation treatment), was issued to 572 people. 35% of these failed the drug test, and as a result 83% of these were sent back to jail. Results did however show an increase in the number of people undertaking treatment.
Reasons why all people convicted of drug related crimes were not tested after release were:
Lack of communication between prisons and the probation service
Prison and probation staff were not well informed of the scheme
Lack of awareness who the drug use offenders were
Implementation difficulties have meant that it has not been possible to explore the impact on behaviour where test results are used to inform court decisions.
Analysis has shown drug testing has had a positive impact on some people, as there has been small increases in the number of people receiving treatment and small reductions in consumption, but these are very insignificant changes.
The Criminal Justice Act (2003) also sets out provision to extend the number and type of offenders eligible for licence testing. Licence testing can now be ordered for those aged 14 years and for offenders who have been convicted of any type of offence where it is deemed that they have a drug problem. This extension will require better communication across correctional services to ensure that eligible offenders are identified and enter the testing programme. Section 19 of the Act also assumes that bail will not be granted to someone charged with an offence who tests positive for a specified Class A drug if they refuse the testing conditions.
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Last update: Tuesday, March 06, 2007