Court program for drug addicts helping mostly white males, report finds

A five-year evaluation posted earlier this month found that the program, then offered in six cities, is generally effective in reducing drug use and criminal recidivism, and is a much cheaper alternative to imprisonment, with net savings of up to 88 per cent.

In Heroin Crisis, White Families Seek Gentler War on Drugs

...When the nation�s long-running war against drugs was defined by the crack epidemic and based in poor, predominantly black urban areas, the public response was defined by zero tolerance and stiff prison sentences. But today�s heroin crisis is different. While heroin use has climbed among all demographic groups, it has skyrocketed among whites; nearly 90 percent of those who tried heroin for the first time in the last decade were white.

...�Because the demographic of people affected are more white, more middle class, these are parents who are empowered,� said Michael Botticelli, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, better known as the nation�s drug czar. �They know how to call a legislator, they know how to get angry with their insurance company, they know how to advocate. They have been so instrumental in changing the conversation.�

....

"PluggyRug" said
Reminds me of the time I was turned down for a job cos I didn't fit into the right demographic, even though my experience and qualifications were perfect. White and not a visible minority, Bob Rea's twisted ideology.

"ShepherdsDog" said
We don't have no white males need apply. The wording is usually 'those who identify as (enter special interest group here) will be given preference.'

"BeaverFever" said
The OP suggests that the program isn't being used to primarily help people being born on the wrong side of the tracks, as it was intended, but instead is being used to help people from the right side of the tracks that have temporarily gone astray.

So it would seem that rather than help the sex worker or Aboriginal street kid who was born with 2.5 strikes against them, it's being used to correct Whitey McSuburb's poor lifestyle choices and get him to go back to university. Not that there's anything wrong with that, those people need help too. But the street people are the tough nut to crack and this program apparently isn't cracking it.

Under the program, defence lawyers and Crown prosecutors nominate drug-addicted offenders ...The report repeated the warning of a 2009 evaluation, however, that the prime target groups of aboriginals, women and youth were still not getting into the programs, and that "individuals with little prior criminal history" were being served.

"BeaverFever" said

So it would seem that rather than help the sex worker or Aboriginal street kid who was born with 2.5 strikes against them, it's being used to correct Whitey McSuburb's poor lifestyle choices.