"The Courts seek to provide a therapeutic alternative for offenders who are substance dependent, have entrenched patterns of offending and who are facing a prison sentence of one to three years".
This action is something the group of students wants to see happen in Hawke's Bay.
At the start of the school year, the group submitted issues they were interested in such as the Education Act and consumer law and voted on which issue they would tackle in 2020.
The establishment of a drug court came out on top and the group have made it their mission to advocate for this in Hawke's Bay.
The group researched drug use in Hawke's Bay and drug courts in other regions and decided a permanent drug court in Hawke's Bay is needed.
"It's pretty obvious we need a drug court in Hawke's Bay," group member Conor Frith said.
"We have a really bad drug problem [in Hawke's Bay] and it doesn't just affect the family of those affected by drugs, it affects our community and New Zealand society, it affects everyone."
The group believe that a permanent drug court will be better rehabilitate those with drug addictions than the prison system does.
A Ministry of Justice evidence brief says in drug courts' treatment, alcohol and other drug dependency is integrated with the judicial process and treatment for the offenders is decided by specialist teams.
The courts have a focus on rehabilitation, addressing addiction and reducing alcohol and drug consumption and dependency and reducing offending rather than jail time.
"A drug court would help more than a prison as it will put people through the rehabilitation and people will have a higher chance to come out addiction-free and it's been shown in prisons the rehabilitation programmes aren't sufficient enough," Frith said.
So far, the group has compiled booklets of research about the issue and have presented their argument with sources.
They have met with Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule and Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst and are set to meet with Napier MP Stuart Nash, Napier mayor Kirsten Wise and mental health peer support organisation Whatever It Takes.
Once they gather more support for their idea, they are hoping to take their proposal to the Government.
St John's College head of commerce and director of social enterprise and special projects David Ivory said after the students network and share their ideas, a firmer form of advocacy will be implemented.
"It needs to be safe and respectful but pursuing all options to allow their voice to be heard.
"Their passion is what is good for the community – and currently there is a deficit within the justice system," Ivory said.
The group is in its second year of running and is part of the culture of independent project work the school is developing.
"The college has for a number of years sought to better understand and support those on the margins in the community," Ivory said.
"The evaluation of the AODT Courts shows that they are successfully meeting most of their objectives throughout the first two years," Gage said.
"Within two years AODT court participants are 23% less likely to reoffend for any offence, 35% less likely to reoffend for a serious offence and 25% less likely to be imprisoned because of their reoffending.
"However, reductions in re-offending and re-imprisonment decline over the longer term.
"Establishing new AODT courts requires careful consideration as they are resource intensive, require a high concentration of eligible participants and can only succeed if there are sufficient treatment providers in the local area," he said.
Policy Light House member Angus Ross believes young people are becoming more interested and involved in politics and social issues due to social media and the internet making information readily available.
"It's our future and we think we should stand up for it early rather than trying to deal with it when we are already suffering the consequences," group member Angus Ross said.
St John's College has previously been involved in a Youth Enterprise programme which saw students and prison inmates working together to produce wooden boards.
Students from the school also protested the conditions of prisons by locking themselves in a cage by the Hastings Clock Tower for four hours last year.
