LONG waits for offenders to have court-appointed drug and alcohol counselling in Gisborne have highlighted a national problem.

Two national spokesmen on the issue say a lack of community-based drug treatment programmes could lead judges to sentence offenders to prison just to get help.

About 20,000 people are sentenced to prison every year in New Zealand and up to 80 percent of those crimes have a drug or alcohol component.

That might not be anything new but the lack of funding to help offenders conquer their addictions outside prison means a long wait - resulting in a constant stream of recidivist behaviour through the courts.

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