The Department of Community Based Corrections currently grapples with a lack of funding, due to which it cannot provide drug rehabilitation/treatment or vocational training without assistance from other institutions. Restricted funding also prevents efficient monitoring and evaluation of those undergoing Community Based Correction. 25.2. Rehabilitation of Drug Dependent Persons The Commission found that no distinction is made between drug dependent persons and drug traffickers; while the latter may be imprisoned the former requires medical care and treatment. A judge is empowered to order an offender to undergo rehabilitation at the treatment centres managed by the National Dangerous Drugs and Control Board. The paucity of medical personnel at treatment centres to treat drug offenders hinders the success of court ordered rehabilitation as an alternative to imprisonment, as treatment centres have visiting consultants and not resident doctors. Doctors also prescribe medication as treatment, which the drug dependent person may not be able to afford. The few existing treatment centres do not possess the capacity to meet the demand for drug rehabilitation. There is also a lack of standardized policy to assess the drug dependency of a user to determine the treatment required. Individuals referred to the Kandarkadu Drug Treatment Centre and in transit at the Welikada prison informed the Commission they were not examined by a medical officer, nor administered any medical test to ascertain drug dependency before they were ordered to undergo rehabilitation at Kandarkadu. The lack of a uniform sentencing policy for drug dependent persons is observable as the order for treatment is based on judicial discretion. 25.3. Probation The third non-custodial measure available under the national legal framework is probation, which is the least restrictive alternative, as a person is required to remain in their residence under certain probationary conditions designed for the individual. The award of probation is not governed by certain stipulated criteria that must be satisfied, but rather courts must assess the nature of the offence, sex and condition of the offender on a cases-by-case basis to determine if probation is more suitable than imprisonment. This is a much needed and progressive alternative to imprisonment, and provides a solution to reduce the cost of incarceration on the taxpayer and society, but there is a lack of awareness surrounding this option. The Department of Child Probation, which is mandated by law to administer the system of probation does not in practice deal with the probation of adults and instead focuses only on probations issues related to children. Hence, at present, there is no designated entity tasked with undertaking and managing adult probation. xxxiii