NIWA

Jim Salinger and David Wratt ... not much difference between the two ... so was this issue (Salinger's release) really a matter of 'you can't have two cooks in the kitchen?'

More Opportunistic Scaremongering?

Wellington may just have dodged a devastating earthquake.

Scientists estimate that an average of one magnitude-7 quake will strike New Zealand every 10 years and a magnitude 8 once a century. A 7.8 magnitude quake hit Fiordland in July.
If the same quake had struck in a more populated area such as Wellington, its impact could well have resulted in thousands of deaths.

Interestingly, even though instrumental records have been kept in New Zealand only since 1903, Richter ratings have been given to earthquakes prior to that time.

New Zealand has had a "dream run" for the past five decades, with "a remarkably low number of large damaging quakes for a country that has similar earthquake activity to California".

Characteristically it would appear that earthquakes in California are considerably more shallow than in New Zealand (30 cf. 60 Km depth), consequently are considerably more likely to result in damage ... the parallel drawn has to be somewhat specious.

There seems little basis for magnitude 7 and 8 earthquakes being equitably distributed, nor that 'probabilities' deduced from active areas resulting in damage need relate to the local setting .... certainly there is insufficient New Zealand data to deduce a magnitude 8 earthquake will occur here once a century.

Alcohol Consumption In Nz.

Now, I would not have believed that the current discussion of the alcohol 'problem' in NZ was simply a replication of the contrived 'obesity epidemic' wherein the scale used to indicate obesity was changed, and this to the extent that those subsequently categorised as within the healthy range were having more health problems than those within the slightly obese range. But then I saw this ...





“… our nation’s appalling drinking statistics” would appear to be almost totally derived from surveys and anecdotal evidence, and from this a rather tenuous leap made to attribute cause.



The survey statistics themselves,(http://www.aphru.ac.nz/projects/alcohol%202000%20results1.htm#_ftn1and http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/pagesmh/5855/File/alcohol-use-in-new-zealand-2004.doc), could very well reflect changed attitudes towards drinking rather than be indicative of increased consumption, let alone ‘bing drinking’ - there does not appear to be available absolute quantities of alcohol sold juxtaposed with reputed consumption. This would proffer some validity to the consumption figures presented as most alcohol purchased is reputedly consumed within 24 hours of purchase. An increase of 2 litres per annum may well be a 21% increase in consumption (1995-2000) but it is not a great deal - two and a half bottles of wine over a year. It may also reflect a change in the definition of a standard drink, from 15 gm absolute alcohol to 10 (2004).I would have thought the postulated relationships with disease entities are simply that, ‘postulated.’Alcohol is an hypnosedative that has both predicable (tiredness, slowness of response) and unpredictable effects (disinhibition or reduced impulse control). Alcohol being associated with an event does not make it causative of that event. Intent is more often than not pre existing, and alcohol or other consumption occurs to expedite that event e.g. burglaries, violence, suicide, etc.I guess with no or minimal corresponding reduction in cancers resulting from the anti tobacco lobby it is easy to attribute their occurrence to anything else that can be seen as a ‘commodity of potential abuse.’ ‘Have you had more than six standard drinks at one sitting? Has this happened more than x times? Have you ever been unable to recall everything that occurred the day after?’ Poorly quantified correlation studies can be overly inclusive and quite specious.The charge of Sir Geoffrey and cohorts I see as quite populist and simplistic … the impact of unemployment, DPB., pretended high numbers in tertiary education and other ‘hidden’ means of taking structure or routine and meaning and value out of peoples lives is more the essence of this issue than what is being addressed.This is simply ‘well-intentioned’ wowserism, fortified by applying different criteria as to what constitutes ‘excess.’



And indeed ... a



Standard drink
In New Zealand, a standard drink is defined as the amount of beverage that contains 10 grams (or 12.67 millilitres) of absolute (pure) alcohol (ALAC 2004).

This definition of a standard drink differs from the definition used in the previous national surveys on alcohol use in New Zealand (Habgood et al 2001; Wyllie et al 1996), where a standard drink referred to 15 grams of absolute alcohol.



So now, drinking the same, we are drinking one third more!



Perhaps it is time that our political scientists returned to their core business, to endeavour to regain considerable of their lost integrity ... for this is simply appears more mirepresentation of information in pursuance of an agenda.

I Thought Salinger Was Toast.

last month was the warmest August New Zealand has seen since temperatures were first recorded 155 years ago.
New Zealanders could thank strong westerly winds coming off Australia for an average temperature almost 2degC warmer than usual, said Auckland climate scientist Jim Salinger.

... and juxtaposed with ...

Niwa's outlook for spring said New Zealanders c ould continue to expect warmer weather than usual throughout September, although there was likely to be a change mid-spring.

So is this scaremongerer, this gorebuller, back with NIWA, or is this simply the Herald misrepresenting the situation?
Incidentally, the amount of snowfall in August and -2 degree temperatures on the way to work would suggest just a little tinkering ... why there is still snow on the surrounding hills.

Update: A scientist sacked by the National Insitute of Water and Atmospheric Research has used its data to show New Zealand had the warmest August on record - two hours before the agency could make public the information.
Auckland climate scientist Jim Salinger issued the figures yesterday ahead of Niwa's official August report.

and, update:Winter is expected to have one last hurrah with snow forecast over much of the country until the weekend.

Now There's A Thought.

A big increase in the number of primary school children suspended for violent acts is being blamed on the removal of corporal punishment in schools.
Figures from the Ministry of Education show a 88 per cent increase in suspensions of eight-year-olds from 2000 to 2008 for assaults on classmates, a 73 per cent rise for seven-year-olds, a 70 per cent increase for six–year-olds while the suspensions over the same period had increased by 33 per cent for five-year-olds.
"It is significant that as schools have removed corporal punishment, schools have become more violent," Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said today.

Now there may just be something to that ... it was certainly a more time-limited approach than reasoning them in to good behaviour and almost always was effective ... not so reason or reasoning which requires a reasonable and reasonably skilled person for it to work - not many adults can achieve this let alone an indisciplined out of control kid.

Sponsoring Events.

There probably is a good reason why companies that sponsor 'travelling science road shows' to schools should view the shows before they are toured.
A more comprehensively Green agenda would be hard to imagine ... global warming, new Kyoto Protocol, CO2, methane ... & featuring cows as environmental destroyers.

Such receptive audiences, such an exciting fast-paced presentation, such credibility, such 'buy in' by teachers and hence perpetuation ensured .... such self-inflicted, sponsored, 'shooting of oneself in the foot' ... absolutely, irresponsibly, incredible!

Now Who Really Is Redefining 'Family' In NZ?

The acting principal Family Court judge wants the law changed so de facto and same-sex couples can adopt children.
Paul von Dadelszen says the 2004 Civil Union Act and changes to property legislation have put people in de facto relationships and same-sex couples on the same footing as married couples.
But Judge von Dadelszen says the 1955 Adoption Act was left out of that raft of legislation, and at the moment the only people allowed to adopt a child are married, heterosexual couples.
He says the Adoption Act was drafted according to the norms of 1950s society, but is outdated and has become unjustly discriminatory.

Demographics or the 'experts?'

more police may not solve problems

A report into policing in South Auckland says a promised 300 new frontline police may not solve the district's problems long-term.

.... but if the increased number of frontline police are visible, increase the probability of consequences for offending and the immediacy of those consequences, they will have a dramatic and immediate effect on crime.

Personal Reflection.

Now I wonder what Judith Ablett-Kerr, QC, will see when she looks in the mirror in the morning?

Will she be able to rationalise it (the 'anything goes visage' and corresponding behaviour) on the basis of, "everybody deserves the best defence possible?"

Or will she see it as 'one step, (nay, several km's) too far?'

Or perhaps she will be in awe/dread/disgust at what she has become?



& will she be able to rebuild her credibility?
Should she be able to rebuild her credibility?
Or will she, with her infinite knowledge of human behaviour, become an errrr ... expert on deviance ... a judge?
... time will tell.

No assault conviction for Sam Kelt

Judge Bernard Kendall said the evidence of bar staff had been clear about the grabbing of Mr Spiers' T-shirt, which constituted an assault.
But there was no injury or physical effect on the victim and he discharged Kelt without conviction.

Aha ... so now 'assault' or conviction for this breach of the law, requires that there be an enduring physical effect.
I wonder where Section 59, Sue Bradford's legacy, sits with respect to this finding.

'Tis A Hard Road Being The Perfect Model, Son.

All Blacks trained in risky business of a social life ... to avoid potentially embarrassing headlines and has hired risk management company Core Dynamics to educate players about the pitfalls of public life.
Sessions include role-plays and practical help, such as being shown what drug utensils look like.

Obviously Rugby Management, buoyed by their success at toilet training, at reducing that onfield pandemic of explosive nasal & other orificial clearance ... a pandemic more infectious and potentially dangerous than that 'scare-mongered up' swine flu ... are taking a further, brave step forward. Of course, as new players are included in the squad, this basic skills training will have to be an ongoing annual phenomenon.

... but really, as if many would not have known about drug paraphenalia.

... and then there are the rugby skills ... Oh dear ... so many well developed muscles and so few connected neuronal pathways. How, when under pressure, could they be expected to remember those sixty plus planned and rote learned moves?

Is the characteristic of immediate self-gratification really synonymous with being a good sports person? I would have thought it made a person more subject to performing emotionally, as evidenced by that 'dead, defeated look' in so many eyes when they were behind 17 to 3 ... sort of 'once were warriors.'

It would appear that Graham Henry is making considerable in roads into improving those basic social skills, those skills basic to social functioning, but....

A Duty Of Care .. A response to MacDoctor's Egotism.

MacDoctor struck a nerve.

... until such time as medical practitioners are trained in research methodology and statistics and have the ability to critically assay research ... and read the stuff prior to 'selling' it as a 'treatment of choice' ... and enable and demand independent (not drug company) research with control groups prior to the widespread implementation of treatments - rather than claim that such research cannot occur because it involves with holding a 'treatment of choice' and as such is unethical, then the moral high ground you purport to inhabit is simply 'puffery.'

Perhaps, 'spare the rod and medicate the child' (the 'educational drugs'), are a good example of this.

There are so many medical treatments for which the underlying research does not stand up to rigorous scrutiny, cost benefit analyses (i.e. benefit versus harm) are more often than not lacking.

How would most medical practitioners know whether they were causing harm or not?
Certainly studies looking at reliability of diagnoses have not revealed figures worthy of celebration, and this without considering validity.

Is this situation of greater concern than that which you describe?
I would have thought so.

Maori crime rate down to early childhood maltreatment

Maori crime rate down to early childhood maltreatment!

Really?

The Irony Of It All.

When David Lange was 'rogered' by that Rogernomics ... when egotism faded and he became aware he was but a facade hiding their manoeuverings ... where industry employing the 'unemployables' was deemed subsidising industry and they were 'turned out to pasture' to be supported by benefits, when the idealogues imposed their will and deemed a full-employment economy an artifice, when local industry was undermined and simultaneously the base production for export destroyed - one week Morrison Mowers received an export award and the next they did not exist - and the notion of such a deregulated economy, interest rate balanced/controlled, and a notion of 'trickle-down' to the less fortunate/educated. This had to work and work quickly, before the negative consequences of it became entrenched... it did not do so.

The irony is that this failed, deregulated, global economy, 'one world (global warming, single currency) claptrap,' has seen production go to the 'least cost third world minions' at immense social cost to our economy, and the cost is increasing ... that our own prime minister should receive accolades for this national demise and social desecration, and be placed on the world stage for her 'expertise' is indicative of the pathological nature of such an ideological malaise.

It was this ideology that destroyed the Apple and Pear Board because it was a monopoly and yet lauded the successes of Fonterra ... and Don Brash ... bless his simplistic self-serving little soul, 'can't keep his pants on' economic wizzardry, gets involved in a company trying to scoop some of the cream off a success story (Fonterra).

The true irony though is that those who talk authoritatively on this matter, treasury economists ('it doesn't matter as long as we can live in the manner to which we have become accustomed') and the social commentators like Lindsay Mitchell whose limited knowledge of history further 'deal' to the generational flotsam created by Roger Douglas and cohorts ... the increases in child abuse, sexual assaults, violent assaults, and murders, the sundry psychiatric disorders, that are the legacy of these idealogues ... those in society that were least able to cope, had least skills, least resources were thrown in to the wilderness - put in to a position where basic routines were meaningless ... 'up at eight, you can't be late for Mathew and Son and they wont wait ....' was a thing of the past as were the routines, motivation, self-respect, honesty, moderation of excess, implicit in this. Every one knows that time without direction 'is a killer,' metaphorically and increasingly, literally. Solo mums know that the most difficult time is when the kids are asleep ... when all you are left with is that which is in your head. Forced into a life in which dishonesty is advantageous, the unemployed nuclear family financially disadvantageous, the rewards from drugs manifold.

When I was but a young fella, I had the privelege of watching what occurred in a psychogeriatric ward. I saw nurses treating 'olde neuronally loose' people in a manner which they themselves felt they would like to be treated if in that condition/position .... they killed them, some within three weeks! They took away their 'meaning for life,' they took their routines, their self-respect, the ability to do for themselves ... they killed them ... and we do it today ... this Douglasian 'trickle down theory' has certainly resulted in a generationally transmitted or imposed social malaise that has mushroomed and now the victims are further persecuted.

Twenty seven teacher training providers relying on EFT points for maintaining funding have destroyed the education system ... thank you Roger, competition works ... you have to pass them to retain the funding. The real irony of this is when NZCER claim that 60% of the effect of student performance is attributable to famillies ... why do we need teachers, why should we send our kids to school?? How can parents be prosecuted for truancy under such circumstances?

The answer to all of the above is simple.

Govt considers denying bail for murder accused

Justice Minister Simon Power says he is seriously considering denying bail to prisoners facing murder charges.

This should also apply to those arraigned on sexual offences, particularly, rape ... as stress/ anxiety are often a precursor for such behaviour, and stress/anxiety are what are experienced given almost certain incarceration... and violent offending ... or indeed on any offending in which a lengthy prison sentence is inevitable ... for with concurrent sentencing, what happens in the interim is of little consequence.

Law review looks hard at culture of drinking

But why?

Why is it that we have a culture that places so much focus on excess, on that small percentage of folk that have so little self-regulation or regard for rules that any 'abusable' behaviour or substance will be 'abused,' and regulate all as a means of trying to contain it?

A Call to Action on Global Warming from Dr. James Hansen

It's time to take a stand on global warming. Dr. James Hansen, an internationally-recognized climate scientist, calls for Americans to take part in the Capitol Climate Action on March 2 at the Capitol power plant in Washington DC -- expected to be the largest display of civil disobedience against global warming in US history. Dr. Hansen warns that unless we stop burning coal, the country's largest source of global warming pollution, young people will inherit a dramatically different world than the one we know.

Make history March 2, 2009 in Washington, D.C.
Be part of the largest mass civil disobedience for the climate in U.S. history.
You know there is a climate crisis. You know we have to solve it. It’s time to take our action to the next level.
With a new administration and a new Congress, we have a window of opportunity. But we have to open it — together.
On March 2, join thousands of people in a multi-generational act of civil disobedience at the Capitol Power Plant — a plant that powers Congress with dirty energy and symbolizes a past that cannot be our future. Let’s use this as a rallying cry for a clean energy economy that will protect the health of our families, our climate, and our future.
This will be a peaceful demonstration, carried out in a spirit of hope and not rancor. We will be there in our dress clothes, and ask the same of you.
It’s time to take a stand on global warming. We can’t wait any longer for the changes we KNOW we can, and must, make today.

BUT ... 94% of the carbon in the atmosphere has the same isotopic signature as the natural background.6% is of an organic origin, fossil fuels included.Half of that organic source, 3% is what the IPCC itself says man is contributing.

So will we see Jim Salinger at Huntly?

Firefighters beat chemical blaze

Firefighters have extinguished a chemical fire outside a packhouse and orchard in Hastings.

The hazardous substances unit was called after 20kg of copper based fungicide was found near the pallets.
The chemical, believed to be used as a fertiliser, was extinguished and was put into barrels and taken away, Mr Dalton said.

Aha, I can just see orchardists using a fungicide as a fertiliser ... really sensible.

Awatere Huata is back in education

One would have imagined that this appointment may have raised a few eyebrows and demanded a few questions - particularly as a substantial portion of the funding must come from the 'public purse.' .... apparently not.

Former Act MP Donna Awatere Huata is running Albany-based correspondence school The Learning Post.
She is general manager of education for west Auckland’s Te Whanau O Waipareira Trust, which has acquired the centre.
The job marks Mrs Awatere Huata’s return to the education sector.

In 2005 she was convicted of misusing public funds donated to education trust The Pipi Foundation.
She served almost nine months in jail and three months’ home detention before being paroled.

And as for remorse ....

Speaking from her office in Albany, she dismisses the past few years as a "break".
" I’m no different from any other Kiwi faced with adversity – you move on.

Responsibility?

What responsibility?

Corrections boss: I have nothing to fear ... from a State Services Commission (SSC) inquiry.

Mr Matthews told NZPA that as head of the department, he was accountable for its performance and how it delivered government goals.

"I don't have any problem with that and equally everybody in the organisation is accountable for the job they do given the resources they've got and the task ahead of them there," he said.

"That authority was delegated to the general manager of probation (Katrina Casey) to in fact deliver on that."

So obviously a person who wants the responsibility , wants the power and the rewards for that ($375,000) without the associated accountability.
This attitude has become extremely pervasive throughout the private and public sectors such that one has to wonder how so many of these people warrant the remuneration they get.

Quangos Are Like That.

Auditor-General Kevin Brady looked at 100 cases of offenders released on parole, including 52 serious cases.
He said this afternoon: "In most of those 100 case files, the department had not followed one or more of its own sentence management requirements. Five of the requirements that my staff checked are the most important, in my view, for keeping the public safe, and one or more of these five requirements had not been followed in most of the 100 cases."ditor-General: Parole failings a concern for public safety.

He said he was concerned at the department's ability to ensure public safety.

The five recommendations he was most concerned about were that:
* the proposed accommodation of offenders was not problematic for victims
* probation officers regularly visited offenders in their homes
* senior staff oversaw how probation officers manage high-risk offenders
* enforcement action was consistent and prompt
* victims were notified promptly about certain enforcement actions relating to an offender's parole.

And there is of course 'the probability of reoffending,' which, due to the nature of some forms of offending, are heightened by incarceration ... and this should be taken in to account quite independent of whether or not the person has a finite sentence.

'Human/Criminal Rights'

Maori want to run private prisons ??
Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia said Maori would see great opportunities and she would not be surprised to see some groups or iwi putting in tenders.
"Many Maori have considerable experience in prison work, not only in this country but also in Australia," she said.

Aha ... many prison officers have been and are maori ... some superintendants of prisons have been too and many of them ex-sevicemen... and all appeared good until Mangaroa (Hawkes Bay Prison) where the 'cousies' of the inmates were employed to 'watch over them.' ... and then Carrington Hospital was Titiwhai-ed for a while too ... so all sides 'covered?'

Sooo ... 'recidivism, what is that?'

We await in anticipation of the Work(ing)man's commentary ... Kim?

Windfarm deal no secret, says DOC

DOC is standing by the confidential 2007 deal, which involved a payment of $175,000 by Meridian to the department in return for DOC not opposing the Project Hayes windfarm near Ranfurly in Central Otago.

So 'confidential' doesn't mean 'secret,' aha.

"In this case an agreement was reached which resulted in $175,000 being set aside to improve public access to nearby conservation land and for a series of plant and birdlife issues to be addressed," Mr Morrison (DOC) said.

Ms Fitzsimons said, "While there were many options in terms of mitigating conservation damage, money changing hands in secrecy for silence was unacceptable ... But that should not have been a secret deal and it should not have been at the price of buying DOC's silence."

And she is so right!

Any Ole Pic Will Do.

The CAA is investigating a crash at the North Shore Airfield. The pilot was unhurt in the crash. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey


A vintage military light plane that crashed at North Shore Airfield in Auckland this evening has been removed from the crash site.
The two-seater, Russian-made L29 jet had gone off the runway because of brake failure ...

But ..... It was an L29 jet

Quite a different machine altogether.

You Can't Fool All Of The People All Of The Time.

James Hansen’s Former NASA Supervisor Declares Himself a Skeptic
Says Hansen ‘Embarrassed NASA’ & ‘Was Never Muzzled’
Gore Faces Scientific Blowback

NASA warming scientist James Hansen, one of former Vice-President Al Gore’s closest allies in the promotion of man-made global warming fears, is being publicly rebuked by his former supervisor at NASA.

You've Already Had Your Turn Kim ...

and what we have in 'corrections' is essentially your legacy, Kim. Quite simply what has evolved has not worked and cannot.

'Punishment' has been confused with rehabilitation to the extent that prison can only questionably be seen as a 'punishment.' If punishment is defined as an event that reduces the occurrence of a behaviour, then it is most definitely not a punishment .... if an incarcerated one is to 'keep one's nose clean ("yes boss," and do it),' then there is access to so much: education; sports; weight training; exercise programmes; painting; carving; 'therapy' groups; life-skills training; social skills training; anger management; alcohol counselling; religous instruction; individual counselling; films; personal tv, radio, music; the ability to make a drink pretty much when wanted; often recreational drugs and pornography (or approximations to); pretty much unfettered use of the telephone; regular visits; regular and nutritious meals and the ability to make complaint about anything and mostly have it addressed very seriously.
So once in prison a new lifestyle is quickly established - an emotional reaction to incarceration is increasingly a rarity. A more likely scenario is, " Ah bro', good to see you ... what you in for this time bro'." So no contrast between what was and what is now (e.g. Millionaire prisoner involved in drug ring), hence ... "What we do know is that sending them to prison rather than home detention will increase the likelihood of reoffending."

Mr Workman said at present, 31 per cent of people on home detention were reconvicted within two years of completing their sentence, compared with 57 per cent of people released from prison.
This may of course indicate that selection of those for home detention does,to an extent, comprise those less likely to reoffend.

"The latest research indicates that residential alcohol and drug treatment in the community reduces reoffending by up to 43 per cent, while treatment in prison reduces reoffending by between 13 per cent and 30 per cent," he said.
Again this says nothing more than that the selection process is marginally effective. The difference is not what is involved in the 'residential alcohol and drug treatment' packages.

But Kim Workman, director of the Rethinking Crime and Punishment project, said today that criminal justice professionals were becoming increasingly concerned that justice policy was being pushed through the legislative process in the absence of evidence-based research, good information, and adequate consultation.

'Evidence-based,' the new catch phrase.

NZ study challenges world on teaching

A major new Kiwi study into what makes students succeed casts serious doubt on the importance of homework, small class sizes and even which school a child attends.

With characteristic flamboyant, ebullient extravagance ...
The huge study, based on research into 83 million students from around the world (is based on his international study of up to 200 million children .. Radio NZ), instead shows that the key to effective teaching is the quality of the feedback students get and their interaction with teachers.
Hattie's 15-year study, recently published as a book, is thought to be the largest-ever overview of student achievement. It merges results from 50,000 previous studies and a total of 83 million students.

So Hattie advises parents to fret less about which school their child attends, and worry much more about the quality of individual teachers, especially their ability to give useful feedback.

Now the stated findings have been well-reported for a considerable number of years (Ken Rowe, ACER), so perhaps what the study will show is that the results are relevant across time.

Unfortunately, in NZ a study conducted by Adrian Alton-Lee (NZCER) showed that the effect size (in student achievement) attributable to teachers was in the order of 30% - not really such that you would want a teacher teaching your toddler to safely cross the road - and some 60% attribuable to parents/famillies. What was not, and has not been considered in her study was that all that was gained was a 'snapshot at a specific point in time,' a time at which in excess of twenty teacher training providers were churning out variably trained numbers (funding according to EFT points which requires 'success' to maintain) and a corresponding deterioration in student achievement. Arguably, what she was describing was education in NZ reaching that 'tipping point' at which information acquired from parents has greater impact than that acquired from teachers ... that point at which the question,"why would you send your kids to school?" has substance. This study has had a substantial effect on educational policy.

So to put the onus for academic achievement back on to the teaching process, the 'quality of teaching' is long overdue ... aside from it being simply fundamental.

But John is not totally correct either, for one has to wonder where the 'better' teachers end up, and it is in all probability in those schools that have a tradition of academic success, that have fewer management problems, that largely source their pupils from those 'pockets' of higher socio-economic folk. The passion and intensity with which entry in to Auckland Grammar is pursued by parents wanting the best for their children attests to this ... traditional teaching practices (i.e. practice) too.

ACER - australian council for educational research.
NZCER - new zealand council for educational research.
EFT - equivalent full-time students.

Circumventing Judicial Process?

Circumventing consequences for criminal behaviour ... I 'kidd' you not (Michelle Kidd works for Lifewise assisting people through the court process) ... a counsellor consequent upon offending, additional medications, why even perhaps methadone??

"The court needs a medical detoxification unit that is dual-diagnosis, so when police pick up people who are drunk they can be monitored closely. Some people might have mental health issues or they might be self-medicating, so it's not just a case of throwing them in a cell.
"Within that time of detox, connections can be made back to family, as there is no point putting someone in a cell at three or four o'clock in the morning and then presenting them in court that same day when they are still drunk or high on methamphetamine."








"There's got to be a better way than just building more prisons. That is not addressing the other issues of mental health, drug and alcohol addiction. It is just covering it up."

"The police station is not the best place to manage an intoxicated person because police officers simply aren't qualified to do that. It appears there is a gap in the management of these people."

It seems entirely appropriate that those requiring constraint for offending are removed to a minimalist setting in which their drug or alcohol induced over sensitivity can have 'full rein,' where there exist no distraction from the meditative, reflective, self-deprecatory thoughts, regret and contrition that such position should embody ... but trying to wrap the errant in cotton wool?
... and what qualifications do you really need to manage a sot or a druggie other than to lock them up and wait until they are sufficiently composed to relate to the outside world in a reasonable manner?

There is no doubting the notion that 'so much harm is done by the well-intentioned.'