Drugs rehab policy 'must be revised'

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by Change | 19 May 2009

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A new anti-drugs policy must be employed, a new report has urged.
The government's fight against drug addiction and drug use has been called an "expensive failure" in a think-tank report.

According to findings from the Centre for Policy Studies, there has been too much focus on "reducing harm" among drug addicts rather than targeting illegal use and supply.

"Current policy is based on the premise that drug harms can be reduced without reducing drug use. This is a false premise," the report said.

If it remains as easy to get hold of cheap drugs, and if prevention messages continue to be confusing and weak, drug addiction will not be effectively tackled, the authors claim.

Instead, the report suggests a drug policy which focuses treatment on abstinence and rehabilitation. It also proposes a tougher enforcement programme to decrease the supply of drugs.

The report claims that Labour's anti-drugs policy costs £1.5 billion a year. It also states that ten per cent of 11-year-olds have taken drugs, and 41 per cent of 15-year-olds claim to have tried them.

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