The Scottish Government remain committed to breaking the cycle of drug addiction and crime by providing opportunities for treatment at every stage of the criminal justice system.
The Edinburgh Drug Treatment and Testing Order (DTTO) scheme began in January 2003. It has imposed 501 orders with 161 successful completions of the order. It operates a very proactive approach to completion of the Order.
Each client is allocated to a team consisting of a social worker, nurse and resource worker and is expected to attend 3 to 4 times weekly with drug testing twice weekly. To begin with there is a focus on introducing stability and structure to the client's life and reducing chaos. Help is given on issues such as benefits, accommodation issues, prescribing services and so on. Each client attends individual treatment sessions; participates in group activities on relapse prevention; and attends initiatives to help them get back into training, education or employment. Each client receives a personalised exit strategy and will continue to receive support from the Community Liaison Nurse once the order is completed.
Edinburgh DTTO has achieved positive outcomes with its clients: both drug use and offending have dramatically reduced - 48% of those who completed their orders had no further convictions within 2 years. In March 2007 the Edinburgh DTTO Team received the Butler Trust Award in recognition of its work.