Pubdate: Mon, 04 Oct 2010
Source: Independent  (UK)
Copyright: 2010 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/209
Author: Robert Verkaik, Home Affairs Editor

BREAKTHROUGH IN BRITAIN'S WAR ON DRUGS AND CRIME

The long battle to break the link between drug addiction and criminal 
behaviour is being won, a ground-breaking study into the long-term 
success rates of treatment programmes suggests. Nearly a half of all 
addicts who participated in drug courses in 2005 have been found to 
be free from addiction and no longer committing crime four years 
after leaving treatment. For those with cannabis or cocaine habits 
the success rates are as high as 69 per cent and 64 per cent respectively.

The success rate among the 41,000 drug users involved in the National 
Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse and Home Office study is higher 
than previous government figures for reoffending rates for addicts on 
court rehabilitation orders.

These findings, to be considered by the National Treatment Agency 
(NTA) board meeting today, will add to the pressure on ministers to 
pull back from cutting millions of pounds of funding for drug 
treatment. They will also influence the Coalition's drug strategy due 
to be launched at the end of the year.

Paul Hayes, chief executive of the NTA, said: "These findings are 
very exciting because they help us define more accurately what 
success looks like for drug treatment. Typically, a user coming into 
treatment is heavily addicted, in poor health and has low 
self-esteem. They are often at their peak of criminal activity and 
the prospects for long-term recovery can seem bleak."

In an international first, the NTA tracked the post-treatment outcome 
of drug users over a four-year period, discovering that almost half 
of those discharged in one year subsequently demonstrated sustained 
recovery from addiction. Of the remainder discharged in 2005-6, about 
half directly returned to treatment, and a further one-third were 
redirected back into treatment through contact with the criminal 
justice system. Of those who left treatment but subsequently 
reoffended using drugs, 65 per cent went back into treatment.

The NTA matched four years' worth of National Drug Treatment 
Monitoring System (NDTMS) data with drug test records and the Drug 
Interventions Programme to evaluate the long-term outcomes of drug 
treatment for 41,475 people who left drug treatment in England in 2005-06.

Mr Hayes said: "Experts agree that heroin and crack cocaine users 
take several years to overcome addiction, and need repeated attempts 
before they do. This means annual statistical reports of numbers in 
drug treatment can present a distorted picture of a system that is 
subject to a steady ebb and flow of people coming and going over a 
longer time frame."

He added: "Now, thanks to our extensive NDTMS database, we can follow 
the treatment journey of individuals over successive years and 
demonstrate that positive change and recovery from addiction is possible."

Although, there is no international equivalent study, the NTA results 
compare favourably with long-running studies about the prospects of 
recovery. They also compare favourably with figures for the 
short-term outcomes of prisoners on drug rehabilitation and 
supervision orders, which show that two thirds go on to reoffend.

Mike Trace, the former deputy "drug tsar" under Labour, said that 
these success rates would be even greater if the Government could 
find a way to devote more funding to intensive drug-treatment 
programmes in prison.

Commenting on the study, Martin Barnes, the chief executive of 
DrugScope, said: "There is no silver bullet to overcoming addiction - 
drug dependency is a relapsing condition and it can take several 
attempts at treatment before a sustained recovery is possible. This 
study is helpful in building a clearer picture of what the treatment 
system has achieved, but we need to be even more ambitious."

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: "The Government is 
committed to tackling the problem of drugs and to introducing a 
rehabilitation revolution that will ensure that sentencing for drug 
use helps offenders come off drugs, and explore alternative forms of 
secure, treatment-based accommodation for drug offenders."
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