ANTI-DRUGS DRIVE FAILS TO STEM ABUSE

The drive against drug abuse in Britain is proving ineffective with many
initiatives overloaded or never even evaluated despite being in place for
years, according to unpublished results from the first ever national audit
carried out for the drugs tsar.

The results from three drug action teams in Avon, Cumbria, and
Gloucestershire sent to the Guardian provide the first glimpse into the
state of the official campaign against drug abuse and reveal a dismal picture.

They show that there is a very patchy provision of drug education and
treatment services across the country and there is little evidence that the
police and others are making any significant headway in stifling the
availability of illegal drugs to young people.

Under Whitehall rules, the publication of these disturbing results is being
delayed until after the Scottish, Welsh and local elections in May.

Last night the drugs tsar, Keith Hellawell, confirmed that the findings
from the three areas were typical of the reports from the 100 drug action
teams around the country although some others displayed a more co-ordinated
approach. 'The whole purpose of the exercise was to identify for the first
time the real position in this country and it has achieved that purpose,'
said Mr Hellawell.

The Gloucestershire drug action team report says: 'Overall there is no
formal monitoring of the onset and incidence of young people's illegal drug
use in the county. There is therefore no current information which
contribute to any judgements on the effectiveness of drug education.' It
says that the most recent such data is four years old.

There had been no specific work on heroin abuse among young people, the
report said, nor any evaluation of the action taken to involve local
communities in tackling drug problems, such as substance abuse groups,
Crimestoppers or through police informants or work by the Gloucestershire
police in pubs and clubs.

The report also said that there had been no evaluation of the efforts to
reduce access to drugs for five-to 16-years-olds.

Asked to state their long-term priorities, the drugs action team said: 'A
revised and coherent strategy.'

The report from the Avon drug action team painted a slightly brighter
picture. It said there had been no long-term evaluation of the
effectiveness of the initiatives being taken to reduce drug misuse amongst
the under-25s, but there did appear to be greater understanding of
drug-related issues among students who had been through such courses than
those who have not. Parents said their confidence in talking to their
children about drugs had increased.

Asked about what action was being taken to reduce exclusions from schools
arising from drug related incidents, the Avon drug action team said it had
difficulty obtaining the figures.

It added that there was also a significant problem with heroin abuse
amongst the under-25s but gave no evidence to show whether their response
was effective.

It added that there was no evidence to show that the effort to disrupt the
supply of drugs locally was working.

The report from the Cumbria team was even more frank. It said that the
evidence that drug education in schools was working was very patchy: 'There
is a very real lack of information on the effectiveness of drug education
in terms of proper, comprehensive before-and-after studies on pupils'
knowledge and attitudes towards drugs. This is a national issue.'

It said there was no evidence to suggest that recent initiatives had
succeeded in reducing drug-related crime. These schemes included the launch
of drug action lines, a pubs and clubs against drugs plan in which
photographs of known dealers were displayed, and the new Crime and Disorder
Act Partnerships.

All three reports showed drug treatment services were already overloaded
with many agencies reporting that they were finding it difficult to meet
current demand levels.

However, there were positive aspects in all three reports. The Cumbria team
wants to see the rest of the country adopt its policy whereby pharmacists
dispense the heroin substitute, methadone, to addicts only on a daily basis
under supervision. Cumbria argues it has reduced leakage of methadone to
the illegal market and cut the danger of patients overdosing on methadone.

The report said: 'The police make a conscious effort to stay away from
methadone supervision and needle exchange sites which is most helpful in
encouraging patients to participate in these schemes.'

Danny Kushlik of the drugs charity, Transform, said the reports showed that
nobody really knows what the state of the drug services are: 'They show
that almost all the initiatives that have been in place for years are
either ineffective, overloaded or unevaluated. This audit is long overdue
and it shows that enforcement has not reduced availability.'

Mr Hellawell said: 'The feedback we have given to each individual drug
action team points at the particular shortcomings within their area and
makes specific recommendations for the coming year.

'Most drug action teams recognise the work they have to do and their plans
need to be in line with our ten year strategy which will achieve the
improvements we need to impact on the problem in the way we all desire.'