What type of drug rehabilitation is available for my court case?

Why do drug rehabilitation for my court case?

When you have committed an offence, and plead guilty to that offence, the court will often need to know what motivated you to commit the offence. Unfortunately, much of the crime that is committed in Sydney is motivated by the offender’s dependence on drugs. Magistrates and Judges like to see that an offender is making a genuine attempt at rehabilitation, especially if drug dependence was the major motivating factor in committing a crime.

What are the recognised court based rehabilitation programs?

The MERIT program

The Magistrates Early Referral into Treatment Programs is a Local Court based program that assists offenders of less serious offences to get counselling whilst their court case is being heard. The MERIT program is only available in the local court. You will have to be assessed as suitable by the MERIT team before being accepted into the program. The program runs for about 3-4 months, depending on your progress. You must be on bail to participate in the MERIT program.

Upon completion of the MERIT program the court will be notified of your completion and provide a report to the sentencing court.

The MERIT program have achieved many outstanding results in its assistance of offenders with a drug dependence problem.

For more information on the MERIT program, click here.

The Drug Court Program

The Drug Court is a specialised court that is referred offenders who have committed criminal offences and are being dealt with in the Local or District Court. The Drug Court program is a stringent program that will require the offender to be on a suspended jail sentence whilst participating in the program.

For more information on the Drug Court Program, click here.

What other types of rehabilitation programs will the court look at?

There are many types of rehabilitation clinics and counselling available through the community. Your local doctor will be able to refer you to counselling for drug dependence, and if he/she cannot, they should be able to refer you to another doctor that could.

There is also available counselling at public hospitals through the Health Service that is associated with the Hospital. This is typically an inexpensive way to obtain help and counselling for your drug dependence.

If it is the case that you have been referred by the court to Corrective Services to obtain a Probation and Parole report for your sentence, your Probation and Parole officer will most definitely have information for you about getting help or counselling.

Some rehabilitation centres include:

• Odyssey House
• The Glen Centre
• Corella Lodge

These rehabilitation centres will generally provide ‘in patient’ rehabilitation programs, which will require the offender to reside at the centre for rehabilitation.

 

If you are facing a jail sentence as a result of a drug related criminal offence, call us on 1300 595 299 for further advice.