A report presented the findings from one of the first evaluations of a programme to integrate drug and alcohol treatment with mental health services, education, training, and employment support.
Source: Tim McSweeney, Victoria Herrington, Mike Hough, Paul Turnbull and Jim Parsons, From Dependency to Work: Addressing the multiple needs of offenders with drug problems, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Dec
An audit report examined the work drug partnerships were undertaking to treat the hardcore 280,000 problem users in England and Wales. Treatment for people who used illegal drugs had improved significantly, but lack of integrated support often blunted its effectiveness.
Source: Drug Misuse 2004: Reducing local impact, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release | NTA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Nov
The government pledged an extra 219 million for drug treatment in England and Wales. The extra investment, over four years, would be targeted on treating the 50,000 most serious drug abusers, including repeat offenders and those with alcohol and mental health problems. The budget of every Drug Action Team would increase by around 55 per cent by 2008.
Source: Press release 28 September 2004, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Sep
The number of drug misusers who were in contact with drug treatment services was 54 per cent higher in 2003-04 than in 1998-99.
Source: Press release 30 September 2004, National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (020 7972 2214)
Links: NTA press release
Date: 2004-Sep
A report said that drug misuse was often accompanied by a range of other problems including poor education, homelessness or mental ill-health, and that services tackling these issues could play a vital role both in getting drug users into treatment and in supporting them in the long term. But the current segmented infrastructure, lack of training and support, together with unco-ordinated funding streams, were preventing this from happening, meaning drug users often failed to get the support they need or fell between gaps in services.
Source: Mainstreaming the Drug Strategy, Turning Point (020 7702 1458)
Links: Turning Point press release | Children Now report
Date: 2004-Aug
A report said that chronic drug users were committing crimes to get themselves arrested and imprisoned, simply to get access to treatment in some parts of Britain.
Source: Routes into Treatment: Drugs and crime, Turning Point (020 7702 1458)
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jun
A report said that a shortage of residential drug treatment centres was undermining attempts to cut crime. Although there were up to half a million problem drug users in England and Wales, there were fewer than 2,000 places in residential drug treatment centres. As a result, many addicts were going without vital treatment and continued to commit crimes, often ending up in prison.
Source: Joe Levenson, Searching for a Fix: Drug misuse, crime and the criminal justice system, Rethinking Crime & Punishment (020 7297 4700)
Links: Report (pdf) | RCP press release
Date: 2004-May
The government announced a 50 million 'single pot fund' (sic) designed to ensure young people under 19 received drug treatment, education and early intervention where it was needed, faster and more effectively. The fund pulled together money from the Home Office, the Health and Education departments, and the Youth Justice Board.
Source: Press release 24 March 2004, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release
Date: 2004-Mar
An article called for a programme of medically supervised injecting centres to be piloted, as part of an integrated public health strategy. It argued that pilot studies in other countries had shown positive results. (Medically supervised injecting centres allow drug users to inject 'street drugs' in a clinical environment, with resuscitation equipment and nursing staff on hand in case of overdose or other complications.)
Source: Nat Wright and Charlotte Tompkins, 'Supervised injecting centres', British Medical Journal, 10 January 2004
Links: Article | BMJ press release
Date: 2004-Jan