SPECIALIST drug and alcohol courts - expected to slash up to a third off the billion-pound criminal justice bill - are to be bought into Northern Ireland.
Department of Justice permanent secretary Nick Perry said it will be one of a "a suite of initiatives", including the Enhanced Combination Order, a Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programme (which aims to change behaviour of violent abusers) and the Family Drug and Alcohol Court.
"This presents a different way of working for our judiciary; a challenge that has been seized with enthusiasm," he said at Probation Board NI's (PBNI) Justice in Transition conference.
"For offenders, problem-solving justice is not an easy option.
"It forces people, sometimes for the first time, to look at themselves and the negative impact they are having on others. Some have described going to jail as easier."
Geraldine O'Hare a forensic psychologist for PBNI, said a team has already been set up to support the judge-led project and is made up of social workers, psychologists and "treatment providers".
"The need here is absolutely fundamental. Until now in the justice system, significant numbers of people are coming through with drug problems."
A comprehensive study, published by the department in 2011, found society was paying almost £2.9 billion annually to cover the cost of crime
In January 2017, shortly before its collapse, the assembly was told that alcohol abuse alone cost the criminal justice system is around £320 million to £340 million.
Seventy-four per cent of offenders being supervised by PBNI have substance abuse problems.
US judge Gregory Jackson, who presides over a dedicated drug court in the District of Columbia (DC), is in Northern Ireland to deliver training to professionals
America created its first drug court in 1989 and has seen programmes across the country evolve to take into account scientific improvements in understanding "addiction is a disease".
Judge Jackson told the Irish News that, in the US, 75 per cent of people who successfully complete a drugs court programme "are arrest free for at least two years afterwards".
The judge's court, which operates a `pre-trial system', offenders pleading guilty to non-violent crime who have "a high level of drug use" are placed in a programme within five to six weeks.
"In DC we have reached a stage where people appreciate the value and nationally there is a growing appreciation for what these type of programmes do.
"For every dollar that we invest in treatment, we save over three dollars in overall criminal justice costs."
PBNI point out that the cost of housing a prisoner in Northern Ireland is £158 per day - compared with between $70-$100 dollars in the US, making the potential savings even higher.
The judge said that the project focuses on "users suffering from more serious addictions".
"Over time we have found that you get more bang for the buck when you target that more difficult population," he said.
"...We now realise that addiction is a disease and it responds to treatment. You can't just take people and lock them away and think `That's that'."
