An article said that an expansion in drug treatment resources linked to the criminal justice system had probably had only a limited effect in reducing overall crime rates.
Source: Peter Reuter and Alex Stevens, 'Assessing UK drug policy from a crime control perspective', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 8 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Dec
Researchers found that offences typically committed by drug addicts, such as theft, fell by almost half when they were in treatment programmes.
Source: Tim Millar, Andrew Jones, Michael Donmall, Jonathan Smith and Malcolm Roxburgh, Changes in Offending Following Prescribing Treatment for Drug Misuse, National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (020 7972 2214)
Links: Report | NTA press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Nov
An article examined the 'criminalization' of drug policy – the development of a drug policy agenda designed to enhance the pathways between the criminal justice system and drug treatment services, with the aim of reducing 'drug-related' crime.
Source: Toby Seddon, Robert Ralphs and Lisa Williams, 'Risk, security and the 'criminalization' of British drug policy', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 48 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Nov
A survey found that use of any illicit drug in the previous year had decreased from 11.1 per cent in 1996 to 9.3 per cent in 2007-08, due in part to successive declines in the use of cannabis. A separate report said that there had been a record 186,028 drug seizures by police and HM Revenue and Customs in England and Wales in 2006-07, compared with 161,1132 in 2005 – an increase of 15 per cent.
Source: Jacqueline Hoare and John Flatley, Drug Misuse Declared: Findings from the 2007/08 British Crime Survey – England and Wales, Statistical Bulletin 13/08, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Kevin Smith, Seizures of Drugs in England and Wales, 2006/07, Statistical Bulletin 12/08, Home Office
Links: Bulletin 13 | Bulletin 12 | ACPO press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Oct
A qualitative research project examined the use of alcohol among children and young people. Under-age drinking was recognized as an 'issue' by respondents, who claimed to see visible evidence of harm (social nuisance, accidents): but responsibility for the issue was felt to rest with others.
Source: Define Research and Insight, Use of Alcohol Among Children and Young People: Final Report, Research Report RW043, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2008-Oct
An article summarized the results of an evaluation of changes to the alcohol licensing laws. The experience of the first year showed very little change. The average national increase in opening hours was small. Alcohol consumption showed a slight fall. There was no obvious impact on violent crime and disorder, according to a range of measures. These results were not particularly consistent with findings in other jurisdictions which had relaxed controls.
Source: Mike Hough and Gillian Hunter, 'The 2003 Licensing Act's impact on crime and disorder: an evaluation', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 8 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Aug
A report said that the 2003 Licensing Act had been burdened with 'exaggerated expectations'. The Act was an effective administrative reform of the licensing system, but did not contain within it the levers needed to produce cultural and behavioural change on the part of individuals or the licensed trade.
Source: Unfinished Business: A state-of-play report on alcohol and the licensing act 2003, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jul
A survey of police forces, the National Health Service, and local councils found that most of them considered that the 2003 Licensing Act had had no impact on alcohol-related disorder or late-night violence.
Source: TNS UK, Licensing Act 2003 and Effects of Alcohol, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report | LGA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jul
A report said that the long-standing agreement between the government and alcohol trade associations in England – whereby licensees conformed to set standards of sales practices through largely voluntary means – was failing to safeguard the public.
Source: Unequal Partners: A report into the limitations of the alcohol regulatory regime, Alcohol Concern (020 7928 7377)
Links: Report | Alcohol Concern press release
Date: 2008-Jul
A report said that there was 'remarkably little evidence' of the effectiveness of drug-enforcement activity in disrupting markets and reducing availability. The available evidence supported a local partnership approach that focused on reducing the impact of drug markets as felt by communities.
Source: Tim McSweeney, Paul Turnbull and Mike Hough, Tackling Drug Markets and Distribution Networks in the UK: A review of the recent literature, UK Drug Policy Commission (web publication only)
Links: Report | Summary | UKDPC press release | ACPO press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jul
An article examined the basis of drugs policy. It questioned the rationale for criminalizing certain substances, and the distinctions created between legal and illegal drugs. The debate on illegal drugs was filled with misinformation which created public fear and provided a questionable basis for public policy.
Source: Philip Boland, 'British drugs policy: problematizing the distinction between legal and illegal drugs and the definition of the "drugs problem"', Probation Journal, Volume 55 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jun
The government published an action plan designed to stop young people drinking in public; help them make the right decisions about alcohol; and provide clear information to parents and young people about the risks of early drinking.
Source: Youth Alcohol Action Plan, Cm 7387, Department for Children, Schools and Families, TSO (0870 600 5522), Home Office and Department of Health
Links: Action plan | DCSF press release | Alcohol Concern press release | Turning Point press release | NCH press release | RCP press release | ACPO press release | Portman Group press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Telegraph report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jun
A think-tank report said that drug and alcohol misuse in Scotland could be halved within 20 years by shifting more resources towards prevention and treatment.
Source: Approaches to Alcohol and Drugs in Scotland: A question of architecture, Scotland's Futures Forum (0131 348 5310)
Links: Report | Summary | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jun
A think-tank report said that drugs were widely available in prisons, undermining any attempt to clean up prisoners from pre-existing addictions, greatly increasing the chances of recidivism, and corrupting staff. The government appeared to be more interested in managing the problem than in eradicating it: hence treatment was focused not on stopping addiction but on prescribing substitute drugs.
Source: Huseyin Djemil, Inside Out: How to get drugs out of prisons, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Report | CPS press release | Liberal Democrats press release
Date: 2008-Jun
The government announced that cannabis would be reclassified as a 'class B' drug. It said that reclassification reflected the fact that 'skunk', a much stronger type of the drug, dominated the cannabis market. The decision reversed the downgrading of the drug in 2004, and also went against the advice of an expert group.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 7 May 2008, columns 705-717, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Cannabis: Classification and Public Health, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (020 7035 0454)
Links: Hansard | Home Office press release | ACMD report | DrugScope press release | Rethink press release | SANE press release | ACPO press release | DEF briefing | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3) | BBC report | Community Care report | FT report
Date: 2008-May
The Scottish Government published a strategy aimed at cutting the estimated annual £2.6 billion financial burden of problem drug use to the Scottish economy and society. It said that tackling problem drug use required effective policies on the economy, tackling poverty, and supporting families and children.
Source: The Road to Recovery: A new approach to tackling Scotland's drug problem, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Strategy | SG press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-May
A new book said that existing thinking about drugs and crime was simplistic and misguided, because it failed to take into account the complex social and psychological contexts that underpinned the relationship between drug or alcohol problems and crime.
Source: Richard Hammersley, Drugs and Crime: Theories and practices, Polity Press (01243 843291)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-May
An evaluation report said that drug courts (dedicated to tackling drug misuse and related crime) were effective at cutting re-offending rates.
Source: Matrix Knowledge Group, Dedicated Drug Court Pilots: A Process Report, Research Report 7/08, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | MOJ press release
Date: 2008-Apr
A paper reviewed what was known about the economic structure of illicit drug markets, and the business operations of high-level dealers operating within it. Although it was unlikely that law enforcement action could achieve long-term and sustainable reductions in the overall scale of a drug market, properly targeted activities could impact on the nature of the market, and affect the behaviour of dealers and trafficking organizations.
Source: Laura Wilson and Alex Stevens, Understanding Drug Markets and How to Influence Them, Matrix Knowledge Group (020 7684 5777)
Links: Paper
Date: 2008-Apr
A think-tank report examined the outlawing of the manufacture, distribution, sale or provision of particular goods and services by consenting adults. In most cases prohibition imposed significant costs on individuals and society as a whole, and produced few benefits in return. Prohibition placed markets into the hands of criminal enterprises, and criminalized people who would not otherwise come into conflict with the law. It made risky behaviour even more risky, increased public ignorance, and often encouraged the behaviour it sought to prevent. Given the substantial costs and minimal benefits, it was clear that prohibition was bad public policy.
Source: John Meadowcroft (ed.), Prohibitions, Institute of Economic Affairs (020 7799 8900)
Date: 2008-Mar
The government published an evaluation of the impact of the Licensing Act 2003, which (from November 2005) abolished set licensing hours in England and Wales. There had been no overall effect on levels of alcohol-related crime.
Source: Evaluation of the Impact of the Licensing Act 2003, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: Report | Appendix | Hansard | DCMS press release | ACPO press release | Alcohol Concern press release | Nuffield Council on Bioethics press release | LGA press release | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Telegraph report | FT report | Personnel Today report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Mar
The government published a new 10-year strategy for tackling drug abuse. There would be greater powers to seize drug dealers' assets; a greater responsibility on drug-users on benefits to get treatment and back into work; a greater focus on families where parents used drugs, and priority treatment for parents to protect their children; and pilots of new approaches that allowed more flexible and effective use of resources, including personalized treatment.
Source: Drugs: Protecting Families and Communities – The 2008 drug strategy, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Strategy | Hansard | Home Office press release | Drugscope press release | Addaction press release | DEF press release | Turning Point press release | LGA press release | ACPO press release | RCPsych press release | CPAG press release | Children & Young People Now report | Telegraph report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Feb
The Welsh Assembly Government began consultation on a 10-year strategy which aimed to set out a clear national agenda for tackling and reducing the harms associated with substance misuse.
Source: Working Together to Reduce Harm: The substance misuse strategy for Wales 2008-2018, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Consultation document | Consultation document (Welsh) | NHS Wales press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Feb
The government announced a package of measures to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder involving children and young people. They included: a new crack-down by police to confiscate alcohol from young people under 18 drinking in public; extra powers for police, where necessary, to make it clear that it was unacceptable for children to drink in public; and wider use of parenting contracts where poor parenting was identified as an issue when alcohol was confiscated from under-age drinkers.
Source: Speech by Jacqui Smith MP (Home Secretary), 6 February 2008
Links: Text of speech | Home Office press release | Alcohol Concern press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Telegraph report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Feb
A study examined how young people aged 11-19 in a large city and rural villages obtained cannabis. Nearly all the young people reported cannabis to be 'very easy' or 'fairly easy' to get; 79 per cent stated that they could obtain it in under an hour.
Source: Martin Duffy, Nadine Schafer, Ross Coomber, Lauren O'Connell and Paul Turnbull, Cannabis Supply and Young People: 'It's a social thing', York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | JRF press release
Date: 2008-Jan
A survey found that drinking to get drunk ('binge drinking') was increasingly prevalent among young people as young as 13, with serious consequences to health and crime. However, it also showed that young people thought that sport and art activities could help them control their drinking.
Source: Simon Talbot and Tim Crabbe, Binge Drinking: Young people's attitudes and behaviour, Crime Concern (01925 577122)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jan