A different form of punishment, for example a community punishment, could better deal with this type of offence bearing in mind the current problems with overcrowded prisons. .
For women, the largest proportion being held in prisons were for drug offences at 37 per cent. Depending on the prison that they were sent to could decide how an appropriate punishment imprisonment would be. For example, a prison with a good drug treatment programme would likely be the most appropriate punishment available for this 37 per cent. For example, in HM Prison Holloway, where inspectors in 2002 found "The detoxification unit offered a daily programme of support groups such as relaxation, acupuncture, and drama and dance therapy- (p63) However, if a prison was overpopulated like inspectors found in Holloway for example, where "The detoxification unit has been expanded in size through pressure of numbers- (p63), although this shows that Holloway was trying to deal with the vast numbers of inmates, the fact is that the support was " only accessible to a minority of the women- (p63) The problem of overcrowding has a huge impact on treatment as it .
means that women that are sent to prison cannot receive the individual resources that some may require, depending on their offence or/and relevant problems. Inspectors at HM Prison Durham in 2001 found that " the current detoxification provision was unsatisfactory- (p60) and according to inspectors in 2002 at HM Prison High Point South, if there is " a prisoner requiring a full detoxification programme, transfers are arranged to establishments with specialist facilities- (p48). Although this does show that the Prison Service is attempting to provide detoxification facilities to prisoners who need it. However, it sometimes is more of a hinder to an inmate's progress if transfers are required if it involves transferring prisoners even further away from their families than they may already be.