Monday, January 01, 2007

Happy New Year?

I wonder.

I use to think Christmas Day was the best day for getting up early but I've discovered getting up early on New Years Day is even better. It's so quiet. I'm in the middle of Birmingham and I haven't heard a single vehicle. I shall spoil all this in a minute as I get in my car and drive to court.

All I have heard has been the humming of my computer, water flowing in my bathroom and a crow. Even the other birds are silent.

I wish it could be this quiet every morning. I suppose another resolution is to get up earlier in the morning. That would be involve going to bed earlier but maybe that's not such a bad thing.

More later?

Mary

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Out of interest, what percentage of your clients only got into crime because they needed a supply of cash to sustain their drug habit?

madmary said...

I'm not sure. There are a wide variety of crimes and a wide variety of people who commit them. Those that rob, or burgle or shoplift tend to be the ones dependent on drugs and these tend to be the most common offences. At a guess I'd say at least half if not three quarters.

Mary

Anonymous said...

Haha! Does an alarm bell ring in your house when someone comments on your blog? Four minutes including typing is pretty quick!

Interesting answer. What are the programs like for dealing with their addictions? Are the adequate and available?

madmary said...

I get an email when someone posts and I get alerts when I get emails so in a way an alarm does go off. Also I'm a proficient touch typist.

I have no idea whether the programs are effective. If you test positive for cocaine or heroin at a police station you will have to go for counselling if you want bail. Whether it has a lasting effect is anyone's guess. I'm rather against enforced treatment. My job doesn't really allow me to see the successes. I just see the failures. The ones who come back time and time again. It can be a bit depressing.

Mary

Anonymous said...

Well I'm a touch typist too ... in the sense that my fingers are touching the keys while I type!

So what do you think about the idea of prescribing hard drugs to addicts so as to remove the market for the dealer and the need for a cash supply and therefore the crime? I'm not sure one way or the other at the moment. What would be the gritty reality?

madmary said...

I am not sure. I don't think it would solve anything. You can only get a prescription if you are organised enough to be registered with a doctor or clinic. There would still be a black market. If heroin etc were legal to purchase like cigarettes and alcohol then maybe that would work, although I suspect that what would happen is that the price wouldn't drop to the point that most people could afford it, as the government would use drugs as another source of tax revenue as they do with the aforementioned cigarettes and alcohol.

To be honest, I gave up social work in favour of the law and have never gone into politics because I realised a long time ago that I don't have any answers of that nature.

The law suits me as it is immediate. I can advise and I can act and advocate on the narrow and specific problem of being arrested and accused. I have found the limits of my abilities in this world.

Mary