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UK: How addicts cost us £320m a year

Dan Grimmer

Evening News, Norwich

Thursday 05 Oct 2006

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Record numbers of addicts are seeking treatment for drug problems in
Norfolk - but communities are still counting the cost from users who
steal millions of pounds worth of property to fund their habits.

The annual cost to people and businesses in the county could be as high
as £320 million if a fraction of the people who abuse heroin turn to
crime to feed their addiction.

About 100 more people sought help from the Norfolk Drug and Alcohol
Action Team (DAAT) in 2005/6 compared to the year before, with 2,325
users getting help compared to 2,201 the previous year.

The figures were revealed by the National Treatment Agency for Substance
Misuse (NTA), which showed 13,748 people received treatment across the
Eastern region.

Heroin was the drug most misused, with 57 per cent of adults treated
having used the drug. Fourteen per cent of the adults needed treatment
for crack or cocaine use and 12 per cent for cannabis.

Among under 18-year-olds, cannabis was the reason 73 per cent of
youngsters sought treatment, with 11 per cent of them using heroin and
seven per cent wanting help for crack or cocaine abuse.

But there are thought to be more than 8,000 drug users across Norfolk,
which means more than 5,600 are not seeking the help they need - many of
them turning to crime to pay for their supplies. About 4,000 of the drug
users in Norfolk abuse heroin and police chiefs warned an average heroin
addict's habit costs around £16,000 a year to feed.

They say hard-line users cannot hold down a job and rely on stealing to
pay for their drugs.

However, stolen goods can only be sold on the black market for around a
10th of their true value - meaning addicts have to steal up to £160,000
worth of items.

If 2,000 of the heroin users turn to crime to feed their habit the cost
to innocent people in the county is £320 million.

Richard Price, drug liaison officer for Norfolk Constabulary, said
evidence of an increase in drug addiction was not as a result of a
reduced effort by the police.

“Norfolk Constabulary is working in partnership with a whole range of
agencies that make up the Norfolk Drug and Alcohol Action Team.

“Much of our emphasis is not only in identifying and arresting drug
dealers and users but more about what we do once they are arrested.

“It is no longer sufficient for police forces to place individuals
before the court without making every possible effort to address whether
drug addiction is the motivation for the crime.

“It is difficult to assess the impact on the community but a small
percentage of drug dealers in the community can generate a large amount
of acquisitive crime.”

But the NTA survey showed people in the county were at least sticking
with treatment once they did decide to clean up.

The survey also showed 79 per cent of people seeking treatment in
Norfolk for the first time remained in structured treatment for 12 weeks
or more after assessment - a 26.8pc improvement on the target for the
county.

Evidence suggests people who stick with the treatment for at least 12
weeks are more likely to kick the habit.

Sophie Smith, joint commissioning officer for DAAT, which is responsible
for delivering the National Drugs Strategy in Norfolk, said it was
encouraging that more people were looking for help from the partnership,
which includes children's services, adult social services, Norfolk
police, primary care trusts, the prison service, probation, councils and
the youth offending team.

She added: “We know there is a certain number of people who do not
access treatment. The challenge for the Norfolk Drug and Alcohol Action
Team is to continue to attract people into treatment who currently do
not see their drug or alcohol use as problematic.”

Over the past two years the Government has given Norfolk DAAT more than
£6 million. Mrs Smith said every pound spent on treatment could save
between £3 to £5 of the cost to society.

Norfolk police recently launched a campaign urging people to tip them
off about terraced houses being used to grow vast quantities of cannabis.

Police in Suffolk yesterday seized hundreds of pounds worth of cannabis
plants from a home in Blundeston, near Lowestoft, following a dawn raid.
Officers called at the large detached house off Lowestoft Road at 8.50am
and arrested a 33-year-old man. More than 20 plants and hydroponic
growing equipment were found. The value of the haul is expected to run
into hundreds or thousands of pounds.

Earlier this year, a gang of drug dealers who sold heroin on the streets
of Norwich were jailed for a total of more than 20 years.

The gang was busted after Norfolk police launched Operation Bystander,
which ran from the end of May until the middle of June last year in
which undercover officers were sold heroin. It resulted in five men
being arrested and the seizure of crack and heroin worth about £20,000.
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/

 

 

 

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