28/09/2004

Funding boost directed to drug user treatments

Britain's most seriously affected drug users will receive more help from the government after additional funding was announced today.

Health Secretary John Reid revealed that £179 million of the extra money will go directly to Drug Action Teams to spend on 50,000 of the country's most problematic cases.

Drug users who have long running associated alcohol and mental health problems and consistently fail to complete courses of treatment are the main targets of the funding.

Mr Reid said: "This extra funding is crucial to help drug users with the most complex problems who currently tend to drop out of treatment. These people go on to commit the most crime, have the greatest health costs associated with their drug use and are most likely to be unemployed and homeless. These are all problems that impact on the whole of society and which we are committed to tackling."

The investment will see an increase in the number of specialist drugs workers, more residential rehabilitation and in-patient detox centres and improvement in management of cases to adapt treatment to individual circumstances.

Paul Hayes from the National Treatment Agency said that today's announcement would enable local communities to continue to treat more clients, more quickly whilst improving the quality and effectiveness of treatment.

(mmcg/mb)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

09 July 2003
Rise in crack users sent for treatment
More crack users are being targeted in custody and referred to drug treatment services, a new report published by the Home Office claims. The 'Arrest Referral' report shows that between October 2001 and September 2002, 12,014 crack users were interviewed, and of those 8,656 were referred to specialist drug treatment services - 18.
21 June 2006
Government announces funding for drug treatment services
Drug treatment services across the country will receive an extra £95.2 million this year, under new plans announced by the government. The Department of Health, supported by £22 million of funding from the Home Office, will provide Drug Action Teams with £394.6 million - an increase of over 30% from last year.
25 September 2015
Further Six Arrested In No Deal Operation In Birmingham
A further six people have been arrested as part of an ongoing operation targeting suspected drug dealers in Birmingham. Police carried out a series of dawn raids on Thursday 24 September, arresting a 17-year-old man, two 19-year-olds and three men aged 21, 26 and 47.
17 October 2003
54 arrested in swoop on suspected drug dealers
Sellers of the Big Issue were among 54 people arrested by Merseyside Police today in a crackdown on drug dealing in Liverpool city centre. Operation Manton targeted suspected drug dealers and drug users and 50 men and four women were arrested following a 15-month long investigation by Merseyside Police into drug dealing on the city's streets.
13 December 2005
‘Drug courts’ pilot launched
The government has launched a pilot scheme of dedicated ‘drug courts’ as part of a drive to reduce drug-related crime. The new framework will deal with offenders who carry out crimes such as shoplifting or vehicle crime, which are often associated with drug abusers.