title: The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act: evidence, ethics and the law.
abstract: The Northern Territory Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act 2013 (AMT Act) permits mandatory residential alcohol rehabilitation for up to 3 months. International guidelines and human rights law confirm that mandatory rehabilitation should only be used for short periods. Evidence concerning the efficacy of long-term mandatory alcohol rehabilitation is lacking, and minimal data concerning the efficacy of the scheme have been released. Specific legal issues also arise concerning the AMT Act, including its potentially discriminatory application to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The program only permits referral by police, despite the fact that it is ostensibly a medical intervention. Use of a treatment as a method of effectively solving a public intoxication problem is highly dubious, and should be of concern to the medical community. Given that more cost-effective and proven measures exist to combat alcohol dependence, the utility of the AMT Act is questionable.
authors.affiliation: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Mass, USA. fiona.lander@mail.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lander
authors.affiliation: National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.affiliation: National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wilkes
mesh_terms: D000427:Alcohol Deterrents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D015876:Northern Territory; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D000095283:Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
chemical_list: D000427:Alcohol Deterrents