What happens if a criminal can choose between detention and treatment: Results of a 4-year experiment in The Netherlands

Abstract

In the Amsterdam region of The Netherlands, with 7000 drug addicts, 42% are estimated to commit criminal offences regularly. About 1500 drug users can be characterized as highly criminal drug addicts. The traditional reactions of the judicial system hardly contributed to a decrease in the number of these addicted delinquents. The Street Junk Project was therefore initiated in the late 1980s. In this contribution, the last 4 years of this project are evaluated. The Street Junk Project uses a forced-choice procedure in which arrested drug users can choose either a treatment or a detention option. The project has been moderately successful. A number of organizational and logistic problems meant that the project made a smaller impact than has been aimed for originally.