It is a shame that your article on the judge's decision not to jail a drug dealer, Judge ignites drugs fears (Oxford Mail, April 25), did not lead to a national debate on this important issue, but at least it served to ruffle a few feathers locally.

I stand firmly on the side of Judge Christopher Compston, barrister Rachael Drake and drug education adviser Paul McCabe.

Prisons are overcrowded with offenders who can be best served by community programmes.

Many prison officers would like nothing more than to be able to concentrate their efforts on a more effective rehabilitation programme than that which currently exists.

The sheer weight of numbers of prisoners seriously undermines the value of some prison-based treatment programmes, while on the other hand, community projects are crying out to be used.

It is to Judge Compston's credit that he is prepared to turn the tide.

During a 30-year period, my experiences have been similar to Chris Probert's (Oxford Mail, April 28).

However, perhaps we share a different view about the effectiveness of the current prison service programmes.

I am not surprised that Sue Saunders, governor of Bullingdon Prison, is so quick to defend Bullingdon's reputation.

Much of what she says is correct.

But it is disappointing to hear words like "challenging, fighting battles and tackling" applied to dealing with the problems of drug misuse in prison.

I wonder how many of 910 inmates served by the detoxification programme have managed to stay drug-free for the remainder of their sentence and how many prisoners are successfully rehabilitated, given (I would suspect) the prevalence of drugs on all wings.

If defendant Simon Day fully accepts the judge's offer of the drug testing and treatment programme, I, for one, would like to know how he progresses.

If he screws up, next time he will certainly be offered the benefit of a prison-based programme.

One thing is certain in my mind.

The prison service can well do without the expense and problems associated with the introduction of another convicted drugs dealer into an already overburdened system.

Let the local communities try to find an effective way of helping non-violent offenders and give prison staff a chance to apply their rehabilitative skills more effectively.

JOE CHAPMAN

Roundhead Drive, Thame