In late September a 25-year-old man appeared in the Launceston Magistrates Court for the first review of a drug treatment order granted in August.
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Defence counsel Fran McCracken told Magistrate Simon Brown that Bryce Anderson Woodward's report was "excellent" and Mr Brown praised his efforts. Woodward also looked pleased with his progress.
Just a few days later on Saturday, October 3, Woodward smashed a beer glass into the face of a patron at Launceston's Commercial Hotel. Police allege the victim was unknown to Woodward.
He pleaded guilty in the Launceston Magistrates Court to wounding and was committed to the Supreme Court in Launceston for sentence on November 16.
The drug treatment order was granted on August 21 as an alternative to an actual eight month jail sentence.
He had been on a crime spree from April 4 to April 23 and was found guilty of offences including breaching family violence orders, three counts of common assault, destroying Housing Tasmania property and drug possession and usage.
The drug treatment order was cancelled in the Launceston Magistrates Court on October 28 and the eight month sentence was activated. Mr Brown remarked that it had unfortunately come to a crashing end which was very sad.
Drug treatment orders are made for defendants who have a demonstrated link between their drug use and their offending.
Program participants are required to attend frequent urinalysis testing, individual counselling sessions, group counselling as well as weekly appointments with their allocated Court Diversion Officer to stay on the program or they may accumulate sanctions which can result in days served in prison.
Are Drug Treatment Orders a successful therapeutic strategy or what some call a "get out of jail free card"?
According to the Justice Department: "No formal reviews have been undertaken of the Tasmanian Court Mandated Diversion program".
Figures supplied by the department reveal there were 71 drug treatment orders and 18 bail diversion orders imposed on offenders in 2019-20, with 25 of them being cancelled. That's a cancellation rate of 28 per cent.
Northern Tasmania's judiciary have been more willing to impose Drug Treatment Orders with 50 per cent or 44, of last year's DTO's and Bail Diversion Orders being made in the north.
Southern Tasmania had 24 orders and North-West Tasmania 21 orders.
So far in 2020-21 a further 50 orders were made to October 16 - a jump from the consistent average of 85-100 orders a year, over the last four years.
"The range of primary offences listed for 2019-20 include burglary, break and enter, deal or traffic illicit drugs, common assault, sell, possess or use prohibited weapons, aggravated robbery, obtain benefit by deception, cultivate illicit drugs, and dangerous driving," a Justice Department spokesman said.
In September Justice Michael Brett found it was inappropriate to grant a DTO to an offender who had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving in which he evaded police and drove through a red light and crashed into 4WD on the corner of Tamar Street and the Esplanade, Launceston.
He said a DTO was made when prison was otherwise the inevitable result.
"What makes it [a DTO] appropriate is if the court takes the view that as a sentencing option it will promote rehabilitation," he said.
"My experience with these orders, [is that] it requires a very high level of commitment to rehabilitation be demonstrated, by not just being stated, but also by the surrounding circumstances. The view of the court must be that everything is coming together to indicate that this is the time to emphasise rehabilitation over what would otherwise be a more punitive option. "
Offenders attitude to an order can also vary. In May Scott Thomas Riley, 36, asked not to be put on the program. Instead he decided to serve an eight month jail sentence for evading police and firearm possession.
By contrast a 46-year-old man who had stolen about $40,000 worth of property thanked Magistrate Simon Brown for the opportunity when he received a drug treatment order.
The court heard that he had a previous order in 2015 which "failed miserably".
A Justice Department spokeswoman said the CMD program was a therapeutic justice approach which aimed to break the drug-crime cycle by addressing the underlying causes of offending behaviour.
"The program is aimed at individuals with significant offending and drug use history and is a necessarily very strict order and is not a less serious sentencing option," the spokeswoman said.
"Successful completion of a CMD order has led to positive life-changing results for many offenders, including complete recovery from drug addiction, no re-offending, re-engagement with employment, family and pro-social behaviour.
"Due to the strict nature of the order and the complex nature of the offenders sentenced to the program, every CMD participant is able to satisfy the compliance elements of a drug treatment order and, in those cases, the court may cancel the order and impose a different sentence."
Law Society of Tasmania president Crystal Garwood said the society was very supportive of the Court Mandated Diversion Program.
"Drug treatment orders seek to address the underlying issues behind individual drug use and offending," she said. "The process is a challenging one and a success rate of over 65 per cent for those involved is positive.
"Over 45 people successfully completed drug treatment orders and those individuals have a real chance of permanently breaking the cycle of drug use and crime.
"The savings to the justice system that flow from that individual rehabilitation, and the benefit to the community is substantial."
The Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drugs Council of Tasmania has pushed for an increase in the number of places in the CMD program.
"The current approach to problematic alcohol and other drug issues in our community involves a heavy-handed justice response, rather than a treatment focused health response," policy manager Jackie Hallam said.
"There must be a better balance to address the underlying causes of an individual's problematic alcohol or other drug use and co-occurring offending behaviour."
Dr Hallam said diverting offenders away from prison has been proven to increase success in addressing problematic illicit drug use.
"Once in the criminal [justice] system, institutionalisation, cumulative trauma, exposure to hardened criminals and the availability of harder drugs within prisons impact dramatically on an individual's ability to gain control over their drug use and to rebuild their lives," she said.
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