Drug addiciton and lower-level offending

Posted June 20, 2011

Drug abuse is one of the biggest causes of low-level offending. If we stop locking these people up at great expense and begin properly addressing their drug taking, we will see crime rates and the cost to society fall. Our research found that up to £1billion could be saved if all the low-level drug-using offenders given short sentences in 2007 were put into intensive rehab instead. Short prison sentences must be replaced with sensible, cost effective alternatives. We hope this government will have the bottle to finally drive through these much needed reforms.

Roma Hooper

Roma has worked in and around the criminal justice system since 1992, when she was asked to help set up Britain’s first prison radio station at Feltham Young Offenders’ Institution. She has a Masters in Criminal Justice Policy from the London School of Economics, is Chair of the Griffins Society (supporting women in the criminal justice system), Vice-Chair of the Foundation Training Company (which runs a series of prison and community based resettlement and development programmes) as well as Chair and Founder of the Prison Radio Association. In 2010 she launched Make Justice Work, a campaign to highlight the cost of short-term prison sentences and to improve public confidence in community sentences.