HIGH PROFILE

Drugs minister Caroline Flint is at the centre of a huge government
push to tackle drug abuse and improve treatment. She talks to Alan
Travis about the battle ahead

Caroline Flint MP may have been drugs minister only for the past four
months but already she is deeply immersed in overseeing one of the
fastest growing government programmes in the public sector.

After 30 years of Cinders-style neglect, drug treatment is finally
receiving a massive cash injection that will see ?1.5bn a year of
ring-fenced cash pumped into tackling drug abuse within two years.

Flint, the first Home Office minister to admit that she tried smoking
dope while a student in the 1980s, has just successfully pushed the
reclassification of cannabis through the Commons. A mother with three
teenage children, she now plans a major education and advertising
campaign in January, making clear how the new law will operate and
stressing that cannabis remains illegal and is not harmless.

Her decision to give an honest answer to a question about her personal
use of drugs only two weeks into her first ministerial job, and during
a 90-minute dispatch box defence of the cannabis changes, has already
been enough for the tabloids to attack her as the "dope MP" and as
"David Blunkett's hapless shield".

But, in her interview with Society Guardian, it quickly becomes
apparent that she is aware of the complexities surrounding the debate
over drugs. She has an open mind when discussing innovative approaches
to reducing the harm they cause - whether it is issuing clean needles
in returnable boxes to prevent "drug litter" disfiguring public parks
or trying to find ways to ensure that serious class A drug users get
access to treatment.

"Part of the rationale for the reclassification of cannabis is about
the police being able to concentrate on those drug offences and those
drug markets in communities that cause the most problems - that means
class A drugs," Flint says.

In the past five years, drug treatment programmes have become a
well-established feature of life in many prisons, but this has not
been matched by the expansion of similar services in the community.
The result has been that, in some parts of the country, hardcore
addicts cannot get access treatment unless they are inside.

"In too many cases, we end up with a revolving door," Flint says.
"They go to prison. They may get some sort of support. They may get
detox. They come out and they can be lost to the system.

"Certainly, in the four months I have been in post, talking to drug
users and people who have come off drugs, all of them can recount a
tale of how they came out of prison and did not get help in the first
24 or 48 hours. They went back to the places they lived and the people
they bought drugs from, and despite whatever good is done in prison,
they have started using again."

She suggests the solution may lie in the new criminal justice
intervention programme that has been piloted in the 30 highest crime
areas in England and Wales and is about to be expanded to 20 more.
Pilot schemes involving teenage offenders are also about to start.

"It is about identifying as early as possible those people in the
criminal justice system who have serious drug problems. What we are
trying to do is to make sure these people get advice, treatment and
support, whether it is in the police station, in court or in prison.

"If somebody is charged, a drugs test can take place and we have
arrest referral officers based in custody suites in stations who
provide advice, support and information about where to go. If we can
get them on the road to seeking treatment, and taking up treatment,
that can then influence how they are treated by the courts -whether it
is a custodial sentence or a drug testing and treatment order."

She says the longer people are in treatment the higher the chances of
success, but that for those coming out of prison that success also
depends on having somewhere to live, finding a job and resolving
family issues.

On average, explains Flint, 55% of those arrested for "acquisitive
crimes" - such as burglary and thefts from cars - test positive for
class A drugs. "They are carrying out these crimes to feed their drug
habit and if we can tackle their drug habit they will not have to
carry out these crimes."

It means all the agencies involved in those 30 high crime areas; the
police, probation, drug action teams, treatment providers, have to
work together to make sure the treatment places are available whether
it is after arrest or when someone leaves prison. Flint is
particularly pleased to see the development in recent months of
treatment services for crack users that do not rely on prescribed medication.

The early results from drug testing and treatment orders (DTTOs) have
been mixed, but Flint is convinced that they are an important
alternative to sending people to prison. "We are looking to see how we
can learn from the DTTOs so far. We should make sure that if there are
any gaps we address them. The people on them need to be aware of their
responsibility, but at the same time we are dealing with a group of
people who have particularly chaotic lifestyles."

Treatment places are growing at the rate of 8% a year and include
detox, structured day care, wet houses, dry houses as well as
residential treatment. The period of rapid expansion is also improving
the traditionally frosty relations between the Home Office and the
Department of Health helped by the foundation of the National
Treatment Agency.

Flint criticises the abstinence-based Swedish plan that has been
adopted by the Conservatives to create 20,000 residential treatment
places so teenage addicts face a choice of treatment or prison as a
"one size fits all solution".

"To take them off for five days, or whatever, and impress upon them
how wrong it is does not begin to address the complexities of the
problem. For example, I recently met a man who had come off crack but
is an alcoholic. We are talking about people who use multiple drugs.
We have to recognise that in some cases early success might mean
reducing the amount of drug they take or reducing one drug and then
starting on the next."

Flint is keen to do something about discarded needles in public parks.
Providing class A drug users with a nearby cafe or a shop is, she
believes, not the answer. But she is considering ideas such as
providing needles in returnable boxes that can be exchanged only if
they contain the used needles.

To begin the new year, Flint will be involved in a big education and
advertising push to explain the changes in cannabis law that should
result in fewer people being arrested for simple possession - as long
as there are no aggravating circumstances. Instead, they will receive
a police warning and have their cannabis confiscated.

"We will look and see if this change will have an impact on how the
police focus on drugs, and whether we will see more arrests for class
A," Flint says. "I will be keeping an eye on that, as well as making
sure that people understand what the policy is.

"There has been a lot of misinformation about the reclassification of
cannabis that has not been particularly helpful in getting information
across to young people. Some newspapers have deliberately spread
confusion, wrongly claiming that the power of arrest has been
abolished for all cannabis offences."

The education and advertising campaign is designed to have an impact
on the levels of cannabis use by young people. It will spell out how
the new law will operate and will try to dissuade them from
experimenting. "We have never said it is a harmless drug," Flint insists.