I once attended a presentation given by the Supt of Selarang Park DRC. They were using the plastic slides with an overhead projector at that time. Someone had used a solvent to remove the last bullet point but you could make it out “Complete failure”
'Complete failure' is a wonderfully apt description. Good to see some honesty in their internal evaluation.
Frankly no one has an answer. Ho Peng Kee before he retired as MOS MHA made the call for prison after 2 DRC stints. To allow more resource and the newer admissions.
For starters, criminalizing drug addiction was a pig-headed move. It is an economic expedient, like many policies on this island state, and it bears the blueprint of the founding party's hard-nosed pragmatism, but it has been shown to be futile ('complete failure'), and the social ramifications are nothing short of a disaster.
Most international experts will tell you that a 6-month confinement is too short for a holistic rehab program. You can clean the guy up physically and physiologically, no more urges, no more withdrawal symptoms ... but he's still empty inside, devoid of hope, meaning, esteem. The moment he's out he's back on the dope in the blink of an eye.
Longer confinement programs – enforced by legislation – may be harsh but necessary, even if it costs the taxpayers. But the moment you throw an addict into the slammer and give him a criminal record, you've lost him – and the game – forever. Why should I stay on the right side of the law if I'm already a convicted criminal?
Moreover, where's the exit strategy? This chap comes out, can't get a job because of his record, can't feed himself or whatever family he's left with, and in no time is back with his street kakis. And the cycle starts again. Most actually relapse at the first post-release urine test where they catch up with long-lost buddies and meet up for drinks afterwards.
