Treatment of drug-addicted detainees

Any attempt to determine the number of detainees who are also drug users is hampered by the fact that there is no official, national source of information in this area. Studies in individual institutions have shown that about 30% of detainees meet drug-dependence criteria. If a broader definition of the problem (substance abuse in general) is used, then this percentage rises to 44%. It is generally assumed that about one third to half of all detainees have some form of addiction problem. On an annual basis, this amounts to 15,000 to 23,000 individuals (excluding Youth Custody Centres and placement under a hospital order), which involves allowing for counting the same individual several times, since given individuals may be detained several times in one year. In two thirds of those inmates of standard penal institutions who have addiction problems (about 10,000 to 15,000 individuals per annum) these problems can be defined as ‘serious’. Such individuals have often been addicted for many years.

Committee

• Professor HGM Rooijmans, emeritus-professor of psychiatry; chairman of Health Research Council, The Hague, president
• CM Boeij, general governor of Toorenburgh Penal Institution, Heerhugowaard
• Professor W van den Brink, professor of clinical epidemiology in the field of care for addicts; University Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam
• GHA van Brussel, public health physician; Municipal Health Service, Amsterdam
• M van Doorninck, health information official; Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht*
• MA Goppel, Health Council, The Hague, adviser
• AK van der Heide, public health physician; Ministry of Justice, The Hague, adviser
• Dr AM van Kalmthout, senior university lecturer on criminal law; Catholic University of Brabant, Tilburg
• Professor HJC van Marle, professor of forensic psychiatry; Ministry of Justice, The Hague, adviser
• Dr LM Moerings, senior university lecturer; Willem Pompe Institute for the Criminal Sciences, Utrecht
• EA Noorlander, psychiatrist; De Kijvelanden Forensic Hospital, Rhoon
• Professor GM Schippers, psychologist/psychotherapist; researcher at Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, extraordinary professor of addiction behaviour and health care evaluation; University Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam
• JMLP Sieben, general practitioner; Amsterdam
• AAM Vloemans, physician/epidemiologist; Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, The Hague, adviser
• RH Zuijderhoudt, psychiatrist and health lawyer with independent practice in The Hague
• Dr CJ van de Klippe, Health Council, The Hague, secretary

* Mr M van Doorninck died on 8 March 2002.