Plans to extend use of DTTOs
Drug Treatment and Testing Orders seen as a way to cut reoffending rates
The Scottish Executive has announced plans to extend the use of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs).
DTTOs are aimed at stopping addicts from reoffending and are currently used in the sheriff and high courts as an alternative to a prison sentences, but the aim is to extend this to lower-tariff offenders.
The use of the orders has increased, rising by 14% in 2005-06 to 599, and nearly half of those who complete the orders (48%) have no further convictions within two years. Of those who do reoffend, the offences were relatively minor.
Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing said that while it would not be practical to replicate the DTTOs across the board in their present form, the "best parts" could be incorporated into a framework for the future.
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