Pubdate: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 Source: Herald Sun (Australia) Page: 32 Copyright: 2009 Herald and Weekly Times Contact: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/editorial/letter/ Website: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/187 Author: Jill Singer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) FILLING OUR JAILS WITH JUNKIES IS OF NO HELP TO ANY OF US FEDI El Hajje has never been famous, talented, or rich. He is just another everyday loser who steals from everyday folk in order to feed his everyday addiction. Consequently, there is no forgiving him his flaws, no slack cut, no public sympathy. We might easily ignore the likes of Fedi El Hajje, bar a number of unpalatable facts. He could easily be our brother, father, husband, son, or friend. Our prisons are two-thirds filled with people just like him, convicted of drug-related crimes. And every single one is costing taxpayers $190 a day to keep locked up. Add to this the shocking fact that our prison population has exploded by 50 per cent in the past decade and we might begin to understand the growing social problem of drug addiction in our own communities. It's time for a dramatic rethink about how we deal with the likes of Fedi El Hajje. The Court of Appeal has done just that, and with all due respect to the three learned judges who have just thrown Fedi El Hajje back in the nick, I think they've got it dead wrong. Declaring it to be a matter of first importance to the administration of criminal justice in Victoria, the Court of Appeal overturned El Hajje's wholly suspended three-year sentence for his latest bout of housebreaking and replaced it with a three-year minimum sentence. In doing so, the judges took the opportunity to state their view that our courts are being too soft on criminals who break into people's houses, pointing out that the average sentence in Victoria for aggravated burglaries - which are burglaries committed while people are in the house - falls far short of the maximum penalty of 25 years. From 2003 to 2008, the median custodial sentence ranged from 1 1/2 years to 2 1/2 years. This is just not good enough, according to Justices Chris Maxwell, Frank Vincent and Paul Coghlan, who correctly point out that the prevalence of burglary and home invasion-style offences is causing great public disquiet. But is locking junkies up for years on end the answer? The Smart Justice campaign, co-ordinated by the Federation of Community Legal Centres, points out that there is absolutely no evidence that the risk of imprisonment deters people from using illicit drugs. Furthermore, our jails are full of illicit drugs and many prisoners continue to use while inside. The campaign is pushing for a greater focus on treatment rather than on chest-thumping rhetoric. Research shows that in the US, every $1 spent on drug and alcohol treatment saves the public $7 through a reduction in crime and in the need for medical care. In the UK, it's been shown that for every pound stg. 1 invested in treatment, pound stg. 3-pound stg. 18 are saved in criminal justice and social costs. Yet in Victoria, the Government spends almost twice as much on locking up 2000 addicts than it does on helping to treat the 26,000 Victorians who seek treatment every year. Fedi El Hajje started using heroin when he was 18 and moved on to using methamphetamine, commonly known as ice. It's an insidious drug, and withdrawal is notoriously difficult. The Court of Appeal noted that El Hajje has spent nearly all his adult life in jail because of multiple convictions for theft and burglary. His crimes have not involved physical violence. Bizarrely enough, in my view, the Court of Appeal stated "unless he does something about his addiction, it seems highly likely that he will continue to offend in the same way". So you lock him up yet again? El Hajje has made concerted attempts to get off drugs. His last lapse came when he'd been attending a detox program at St Vincent's, but found himself unable to have a prescription for buprenomorphine filled one weekend and consequently relapsed. The County Court judge who wanted to give him a chance, and whose sentence was overturned, regarded El Hajje as being let down by the system. In contrast, the Court of Appeal found El Hajje "let himself down by his inability to abstain from drugs, even for a weekend". Even for a weekend! These words chill me, demonstrating what seems a dangerous ignorance about the nature of drug addiction. I'd like to see how anyone might cope with medically unassisted withdrawal from an addiction to ice. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake