RISE IN DRUG ADDICTS SEEKING HELP

More drug addicts across the North West are seeking treatment,
according to new figures published today.

More than 37,600 users sought treatment for addiction in the 12 months
prior to this April, a rise of seven per cent on the year before.

Figures released earlier this month named Blackpool as having the
highest rate for drug-related deaths than anywhere else in the United
Kingdom.

The research at Manchester University also revealed 69 per cent of
users, more than 23,000 people, were seeking help for heroin addiction.

And more than 75 per cent of new addicts completed the 12-week
course.

Mark Gilman, National Treatment Agency regional manager, said: "We're
now meeting the challenge to make treatment more effective for the
most chaotic and vulnerable individuals, as well as communities in
which they live, in the region."

A study by the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths showed 35
people died across the Fylde last year as a result of drugs - up from
23 in 2005.

It gives the area a death rate of 19.4 per 100,000 population - up
from 12.8 in 2005.