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Alternatives to punishment for drug using offenders
In summary, few countries in Europe have chosen to adopt widespread rehabilitative approaches, with most opting for simpler policies of decriminalisation or depenalisation — alternatives to prison, but not alternatives to punishment. The policies that are adopted are often carried out without robust monitoring or evaluation; large numbers of drug users are diverted from the criminal justice system in many European countries without any systematic follow-up.

Young adults are using more Ecstasy and legal highs
Young people’s choice of substances changes rapidly in response to fashion and availability (and price). It will be interesting to see whether the current generation of young drug users reduce their usage as they get older to the same extent as previous generations appear to have done.

Inspectors critical of court custody service
It is hard to imagine a more critical report, but even more concerning was the inspectors’ conclusion that there was very little strategic leadership or expectation that the poor conditions highlighted again in this report would be rectified.

Helping young adult prisoners
The SPCR study has spawned a new MoJ report on the characteristics and needs of young adult (18-20 years old) prisoners and helps to inform resettlement planning.

Effective interventions for women offenders
It is surprising that in 2015, there is almost no British research of sufficient high quality to inform best practice in reducing women’s offending. There is a particular need to develop an effective evidence base around what works in helping women to desist from violent crime.

Young people increasingly drink in moderation
It is perhaps because of this very broad conclusion which can be characterised as “good parenting leads to emotionally healthy children who tend to make sensible life decisions” that Demos’ ten recommendations are, to my mind, rather woolly and not particularly likely to be implemented by government – and even less so in this age of austerity.
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Russell has over 20 years’ experience as a researcher and consultant specialising in substance misuse and crime.
Prison, probation, police, substance misuse, commissioning & payment by results.
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