Drug Rehabilitation requirement is an order introduced under the “drug strategy”, which requires the offender, whose crime has been found to be drug regulated to undergo regular treatment and testing under the supervision of a probation officer as fixed by the court (Home Office, 2004). DRR is similar to that of DTO except that the treatment, probating and testing components of DRR are delivered via DAT. Treatment is usually provided by tier 3, treatment provider. Services of Criminal justice information technology (CJIT) are also employed in this order (DIP, Probation, NTA & NOMS, 2006).
General comparisons between UK AND Greece in the issue of drugs Drug abuse by young individuals (between the ages of 16-24 years) had been a massive problem in the UK before the year 1998. Implementation of the drug strategy and various other interventions by the UK government has resulted in a decline in the rate of usage of illicit drugs by the young people in the UK for the year 2006 (British Crime Survey, 2007). In Greece, though the annual prevalence of drug use among the youth is less than that in the U.
K, the problem of drug addiction among the young population is fast increasing. There has been increase in the prevalence of use of illicit drugs among the young people from 4% in 1984 to 12. 2% in 1998. (Guggenbuhl, Uchtenhagen, & Fabian, 2000). From these statistics it becomes clear that the strategies adopted by the UK government for prevention of drug addiction have been more successful than those implemented by Greece. In Greece the drugs commonly abused by young individuals are cannabis, heroin, cocaine, ecstasy etc.
On the other hand, in the UK, heroin is abused less commonly in comparison to other drugs. Ecstasy is a drug, which is commonly used on the dance floor by the young people both in Greece as well as in UK. The legal structure dealing with drug abuse in both UK and Greece shows similarity in a number of aspects as described below. Prevention of emergence of drug addiction among youth and adolescents has been highlighted by the policies of both UK and Greece [European Legal Database on Drugs (ELDD), 2003].
Special protection of minors against the harmful affects of drugs It has been observed that drug abuse related behavior most commonly develops in young age. Thus in order to protect the minors from drug abuse, both the countries, U. K and Greece has made special provisions in their legal system. For e. g. in Greece supplying drugs near the vicinity of school or other places where students frequently visit in lieu of their educational, sports or social activities, is considered to be an aggravating factor which increases the seriousness of offence.
In Greece if an individual is found to be supplying drugs in schools he can be sentenced for a minimum of 15 years in imprisonment. In UK there are similar laws which specifically guide the police to immediately arrest an individual who is found to be possessing or supplying drugs in the vicinity of schools, youth clubs and other educational institutions (ELDD, 2003). Penalties for drug related crime among the minors Laws in both try to reduce penalties for minors. Other than imprisonment, in UK there is wide range of other options made available for minors. For e. g.
In UK, for an offender between the ages of 10-17 years there is a provision for discontinuation of prosecution and supervision of the offender by the Youth Justice board which is funded by youth offending team (ELDD, 2003). In Greece too, laws are more relaxed for offenders under the age of 17 years. In Greece, there are ten special programs, supervised by the ministry of health which are aimed towards helping the young individuals who have been proven guilty of committing drugs related crime. These include counseling programs, legal support and therapeutic programs (ELDD, 2003).
Willingness to obtain treatment The legal systems in both the countries require the minors or their parents to give a written consent before treatment of substance use disorder can be started. Use of harm reduction approach Harm-reduction strategies in order to help reduce the incidence of high risk behavior to prevent the transmission of blood borne infection (HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C) and other health related risks among drug addicts has been increasingly used in both Greece and UK (Guggenbuhl, Uchtenhagen, & Paris, 2000).