The police force work with many disadvantage groups within society, one of the many groups that the police force work with is illicit drug users. An illicit drug user is an individual who partakes in taking ‘chemical agents that alter the biochemical or physiological processes ‘(United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2015). As according to the New South Wales Police (2015) despite there only being a small propitiation of illicit drug users within communities, they can cause enormous amounts of harm that include ‘family and social difficulties, mental health issues, overdose related deaths, transmission of blood borne viruses such as HIV and hepatitis C, and involvement in drug-related crime’ (NSW Police 2015).The New South Wales Police (2015)
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However there are those who come to the police seeking help and that is where the Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment (MERIT) program can help those individuals who have committed and crime and want help with their substance abuse. One of the goals the police have when encountering illicit drug users is ‘providing drug offenders with opportunities to address drug problems’ (NSW Police 2015). This goal is put into good practice through the Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment (MERIT) program which aims to provide illicit drug users the support to reduce their addiction through rehabilitation drug treatment as part of their bail sentence (Larney and Martire 2010). According to the NSW Government Justice (2014) the program works around those who voluntary admit themselves into the program and are motivated to undertake drug treatment to break their substance abuse. There are strengths within the program that the police work simultaneously with the government to help illicit drugs users within the community. The program is a NSW state wide course facilitated in 65 local communities allowing for police to have a greater impact on the group when working with the group as they have greater access to facilities (NSW Government Justice 2015). As stated by Larney and Martire (2010) MERIT is a government run program with the …show more content…
Through the framework of the National Drug Strategy (NDS) the police intergrade traditional policing strategies with the NDS framework to create a way to minimise harm to illicit drug users and the community through supply reduction, demand reduction and harm reduction (The Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy 2001). The Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy (2001) states that even though police and law enforcement deal with illicit drug users more when it comes to enforcing the law, they recognise that by combining the legislative responsibilities with a more proactive approach and working in close partnership with health and other key stakeholders, then the work of the police will become more efficient when dealing with drug related harms. This allows for police to expand their knowledge and understand different ways in which they can implicate new and well developed strategies to assist illicit drug users in reducing harm minimisation (NSW Police 2015). The National Action Plan is not a set plan of strategies for the police to follow in relation to illicit drug users, but a way to guide them into ways in which they can help reduce illicit drug harm to both the individual and the community (The Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy 2001). There are many strong areas in the National Action Plan as much as there are weaknesses.
However there are those who come to the police seeking help and that is where the Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment (MERIT) program can help those individuals who have committed and crime and want help with their substance abuse. One of the goals the police have when encountering illicit drug users is ‘providing drug offenders with opportunities to address drug problems’ (NSW Police 2015). This goal is put into good practice through the Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment (MERIT) program which aims to provide illicit drug users the support to reduce their addiction through rehabilitation drug treatment as part of their bail sentence (Larney and Martire 2010). According to the NSW Government Justice (2014) the program works around those who voluntary admit themselves into the program and are motivated to undertake drug treatment to break their substance abuse. There are strengths within the program that the police work simultaneously with the government to help illicit drugs users within the community. The program is a NSW state wide course facilitated in 65 local communities allowing for police to have a greater impact on the group when working with the group as they have greater access to facilities (NSW Government Justice 2015). As stated by Larney and Martire (2010) MERIT is a government run program with the …show more content…
Through the framework of the National Drug Strategy (NDS) the police intergrade traditional policing strategies with the NDS framework to create a way to minimise harm to illicit drug users and the community through supply reduction, demand reduction and harm reduction (The Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy 2001). The Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy (2001) states that even though police and law enforcement deal with illicit drug users more when it comes to enforcing the law, they recognise that by combining the legislative responsibilities with a more proactive approach and working in close partnership with health and other key stakeholders, then the work of the police will become more efficient when dealing with drug related harms. This allows for police to expand their knowledge and understand different ways in which they can implicate new and well developed strategies to assist illicit drug users in reducing harm minimisation (NSW Police 2015). The National Action Plan is not a set plan of strategies for the police to follow in relation to illicit drug users, but a way to guide them into ways in which they can help reduce illicit drug harm to both the individual and the community (The Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy 2001). There are many strong areas in the National Action Plan as much as there are weaknesses.