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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Drugs and alcohol: the issue explained
David Batty The Guardian
Friday 14 May 2004 The government has reclassified cannabis to focus efforts on hard drugs and launched a national alcohol harm reduction strategy to tackle the growing problem of binge drinking. What impact have the measures had? David Batty explains According to the British crime survey, every year about four million people in the UK use an illicit drug, with three million of them cannabis smokers. Although Labour initially took a traditional hardline stance towards drugs, more recently it has softened its attitude towards cannabis, and adopted a policy of "tough love" towards hard drug users, offering addicts a choice of prison or treatment. The home secretary, David Blunkett, reclassified cannabis from a class B to a class C drug last July - meaning that possession is now only an arrestable offence in extreme circumstances. But ministers still oppose decriminalising the drug. A revised drugs strategy, published last year, aims to double the number of drug testing and treatment orders (DTTOs) made by the courts for offenders who test positive for class A drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, when they are arrested. The courts were also given the power to order compulsory drug treatment as part of a community sentence. There is growing evidence that the strategy is under threat from red tape and poor management. Independent auditors have found wide variations in the quality of services provided by the 149 drug action teams (DATs) despite the creation of the national treatment agency in 2001, which monitors their work. Complex funding arrangements mean funds are being spent on staff and management rather than treatment, while many courts are proving reluctant to issue DTTOs. Some revisions to the drugs strategy were seen as a climbdown by the government. The home secretary, David Blunkett, abandoned the target set in 1998 by the former drugs tsar, Keith Hellawell, to cut the amount of class A drug abuse in Britain by 25% by 2003, admitting it was "not credible". The target was replaced last year by vague promises to reduce the supply and consumption of class A drugs and to cut the amount of drug-related crime. More GPs will be licensed to prescribe heroin to addicts who fail to respond to other forms of treatment but the government has ruled out introducing "shooting galleries" for addicts to inject their own illegally obtained heroin. Although the government spends UKP500m a year on drugs programmes, alcohol services only receive UKP95m - despite increasing evidence of drink-related health problems, public disorder and antisocial behaviour. Britain's binge drinking culture is estimated to cost UKP20bn a year in terms of lost productivity, NHS treatment and crime and disorder. Ministers published a national alcohol harm reduction strategy in March, which called for the drinks industry to help fund public campaigns about the health risk of excessive alcohol; clearer labelling of drinks; better enforcement of laws to tackle antisocial behaviour and specialist training for NHS staff. But the strategy has been criticised by addiction experts for paying scant attention to issues such as underage drinking, the relationship between unsafe sex and heavy drinking, problem drinkers and alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
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