Drug testing and court review hearings: Uses and limitations

Abstract

The ability of the UK criminal justice system to divert drug-dependent offenders into treatment has been enhanced during recent years. Despite the rapid expansion of such coercive measures, research findings to date are equivocal about their impact. This article draws on qualitative data from in-depth interviews with professionals and those mandated to treatment by the courts to assess the uses and limitations of two defining features of court-ordered drug treatment in Britain and elsewhere — drug testing and court review hearings — as a means of promoting and monitoring compliance with the conditions of these disposals. © 2008, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.