New Zealand to Spend $80 Million on Youth Anti-Drug Programs
The New Zealand government has announced that it will spend more than $80 million over the next four years in an attempt to tackle and prevent youth drug abuse. In addition to military-style boot camps, they plan to provide electronic monitoring, alcohol and drug rehabilitation, adventure camps, and school holiday programs.
Prime Minister John Key campaigned heavily on the idea of military-style discipline, and now 40 young people per year will be sent to boot camp. “I’ve always believed that boot camps in isolation won’t work, but if you package them around a program of drug and alcohol rehabilitation, education, mentoring, ensuring when they get back into the community they are supported—then I think they can play an important role,” he said
All of this will be funded as part of the “Fresh Start Program,” including court-supervised camps with adventure-type activities, funding for community youth programs and initiatives, and greater powers for youth court—including electronic monitoring and supervision.
Part of the funding will also go toward sending 30,000 children from deprived areas to activity programs over the school holidays. “A lot of these children just don’t get to access these programs,” said Key. “They miss out, and there is a degree of unfairness about that. If they’re left on their own, to their own devices, they might find themselves getting into trouble.”
Many of the programs will be contracted out to private operators, and the government admits that some of the money has come from the Healthy Eating, Healthy Action program.
“There has been a little bit of money that has been reallocated from health, to go into the holiday programs—I thought it was more efficient use of the money,” said Key.
