NEW BODY TO TACKLE TIDE OF CRIME BY DRUG USERS

The Government will today announce plans for a new national agency for
treating addiction, in an effort to reduce the number of crimes committed
by drug users.

Home Secretary Jack Straw will tell an audience in London that some addicts
are carrying out hundreds of crimes while waiting to be admitted to
treatment programmes.

In a speech for the Social Market Foundation, a centre-left think-tank, Mr
Straw will refer to the cocaine problem of EastEnders actress Danniella
Westbrook as evidence of the damage drugs can cause to young lives.

Mr Straw and the Health Secretary, Alan Milburn, are planning a National
Treatment Agency to ensure NHS trusts and local authorities improve the
efficiency of drug rehabilitation programmes. The new agency will oversee a
national budget for treating addiction.

Mr Straw is alarmed at reports that while some areas can admit addicts for
treatment within weeks, drug users in other districts sometimes have to
wait years to be admitted to programmes. A recent Home Office study shows
that 80 addicts carried out a crimewave of 10,000 offences between them in
the month before they were accepted for treatment.

In his speech, Mr Straw will say that no crime-fighting strategy can be
effective without a "co-ordinated and robust" attack on drugs.