F They tried to make me go to rehab . Drugs, young people and the - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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“They tried to make me go to rehab ….” Drugs, young people and the law

Jane Sanders, Principal Solicitor The Shopfront Youth Legal Centre

Summary offences

• possession
• self-administration
• possession of equipment

Options

• Young Offenders Act warning, caution or

youth justice conference

• Children’s Court

Indictable offences

• supply
• manufacture
• cultivation

Options

• Young Offenders Act caution or

conference (small-scale cultivation only)

• Children’s Court
• District or Supreme Court (large amounts)

2009/10: alleged offences committed by 10- 17 year-olds in NSW where police took action (excluding informal warnings)

• 17, 223 people (2.35% of population)
• 39, 943 alleged offences
• Most common offences: assault, property

damage, transport regulatory offences

• 1,345 drug offences
• 1,547 liquor offences

2009/10: alleged offences committed by 10-17 year olds in NSW: action taken by police (excluding warnings)

caution 29.5% conference 5.5% penalty notice 22.5% court 42.5%

Other actions taken in relation to alleged

• ffences committed by 10-17-year-olds:
• 2009/10: 5,030 informal police warnings
• 2009: 18,981 Railcorp penalty notices

Matters finalised in NSW Children’s Court 2010:

• 17,496 proven offences
• 446 illicit drug offences, including 336
• ffences of possess prohibited drug
• Most common offences: common assault,

property damage, larceny

• Possess prohibited drug = 14th most

common offence

Drug possession offences - NSW Children's Court 2010

cannabis 84.2% ecstasy 11.4% amphetamine 3.8% cocaine 0.6%

Penalties for drug possession offences - NSW Children's Court 2010

dismissed with or w/o caution 42.3% fine 31.3% bond 19.6% dismissal after conference 4.3% probation 1.2% CSO 1.2%

Penalties for drug supply offences - NSW Children's Court 2008-2011

dismissed with or w/o caution 5% fine 5% bond 29% dismissal after conference 1% probation 37% CSO 11% suspended sentence 11% control order 2%

2009 Young People in Custody Health Survey:

• 61.3% reported alcohol consumption had

caused them problems in the last year

• 44.5% reported illicit drug use had caused

them problems in the last year

Options to deal with drug-related offending

• Young Offenders Act caution or

conference

• Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act

sec 32 or 33 (if young person has mental illness or cognitive disability)

• Bond, probation, suspended control order

with supervision

• Youth Drug and Alcohol Court

Additional options for adults:

• MERIT
• Adult Drug Court
• Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional

Centre

• Intensive Correction Order

References:

• NSW BOCSAR statistics
• Sentencing for Common Offences in the NSW Children’s

Court: 2010 (Judicial Commission of NSW, 2012)

• A Picture of NSW Children (NSW Commission for

Children and Young People, 2011)

• 2009 NSW Young People in Custody Health Survey

(Juvenile Justice, Justice Health, 2011)

• War on Drugs (Global Commission on Drug Policy,

2011)

• The prohibition of illicit drugs is killing and criminalising
• ur children …(Australia 21, 2012)