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Use of Home Detentions is masking NZ’s Drug Problem

Take a very close look at the graph above. In, fact, download the XLXS if you like and use it in your reporting. You can check the accuracy from the source* basically it’s the Department of Justice.

It shows that since the introduction of, and/or beginning of recording of Home Detention statistics, their use has now grown to fully over 100% the size of the actual prison population. That point was reached in 2010 when the total number sentenced to one of the 3 home detentions exceeded the total number of prison sentences. In 2014, the number in home detention was 127% higher than the total prison population as far as sentences handed down goes (16,176 / 7,114).

Naturally these data points are for all of NZ and for all types of crime not just drugs related. But I think you can read between the lines. People only take drugs due to lack of community – and because the world around them is crumbling down, while reptiles are at the helm.

Data Source: http://nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz/wbos/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLECODE7353

*Update* See how NZ stacks up against other countries here: news.bbc.co.uk/06/prisons/