News (Media Awareness Project) - UK: Britain's Drug Problem Worst In Europe: Study |
| Title: | UK: Britain's Drug Problem Worst In Europe: Study |
| Published On: | 2007-04-19 |
| Source: | Gulf Times (Qatar) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-12 07:40:23 |
BRITAIN'S DRUG PROBLEM WORST IN EUROPE: STUDY
LONDON: Britain has the worst level of drug abuse in Europe and the
second-highest rate of drug-related deaths, according to a study
published yesterday.
Despite years of anti-drug campaigns, government policy has had
aoeminimala impact on the level of drug abuse in Britain, the report said.
The government insists, however, that its strategy to tackle drug
abuse has been a success, with record numbers of people entering and
staying in treatment.
Dame Ruth Runciman, who chairs the UK Drug Policy Commission, the new
think-tank behind the research, said there were signs of progress but
not enough had been done to see what policies were working well and why.
She said Britain was aoedoing badlya when compared to the rest of
Europe and more research was needed to tackle the problem.
aoeThe commission does not start from the position that all UK drug
policy has failed, but rather that we do not know enough about which
elements of policy work, why they work and where they work well,a she said.
The study found little evidence that longer jail sentences, more
arrests, education and treatment had cut the number of addicts or the
availability of drugs.
The number of heroin users in England alone is estimated at 281,000,
compared to just 5,000 in 1975, the study found. A fifth of all
people arrested are heroin addicts.
A quarter of those born between 1976 and 1980 have tried a Class A
drug, a category that includes heroin, cocaine and ecstasy. Nearly
half of young people have smoked cannabis.
The price of drugs has fallen, despite a rise in arrests of dealers
and increased seizures. A gramme of heroin typically cost AUKP54 in
2005, compared to AUKP70 in 2000.
In 2005, there were 1,644 drug-related deaths. An estimated four out
of 10 people who inject drugs have hepatitis C.
Prime Minister Tony Blair said his government had doubled funding for
the treatment of drug addicts and had overseen a 16% fall in drug
misuse since 1998.
aoeI appreciate weaTMve still got a very great deal more to do, but
it simply is not the case that weaTMre not making either the
investment or the changes that are necessary,a he told parliament.
The Home Office said last month that drug misuse had been reduced by
21% over the past nine years with a AUKP7.5bn programme of
enforcement, education and treatment.
But the headmaster of a leading public school said there was an
aoeepidemica of drug abuse among schoolchildren.
Speaking before a school anti-drugs conference, Dr Anthony Sheldon,
master of Wellington College in Berkshire, said: aoeWe in schools
need to be tougher and stronger than ever about drugs. Drug use is
now an epidemic amongst young people and there isnaTMt a school in
the country that doesnaTMt have a problem with drugs.a
An ICM poll last year found three in four people saw drugs as a
problem in their area. More than half said the police should be doing
more to tackle drugs.
The UK Drug Policy Commission was set up with a three-year grant from
the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, a charity with a history of funding
social policy research.
LONDON: Britain has the worst level of drug abuse in Europe and the
second-highest rate of drug-related deaths, according to a study
published yesterday.
Despite years of anti-drug campaigns, government policy has had
aoeminimala impact on the level of drug abuse in Britain, the report said.
The government insists, however, that its strategy to tackle drug
abuse has been a success, with record numbers of people entering and
staying in treatment.
Dame Ruth Runciman, who chairs the UK Drug Policy Commission, the new
think-tank behind the research, said there were signs of progress but
not enough had been done to see what policies were working well and why.
She said Britain was aoedoing badlya when compared to the rest of
Europe and more research was needed to tackle the problem.
aoeThe commission does not start from the position that all UK drug
policy has failed, but rather that we do not know enough about which
elements of policy work, why they work and where they work well,a she said.
The study found little evidence that longer jail sentences, more
arrests, education and treatment had cut the number of addicts or the
availability of drugs.
The number of heroin users in England alone is estimated at 281,000,
compared to just 5,000 in 1975, the study found. A fifth of all
people arrested are heroin addicts.
A quarter of those born between 1976 and 1980 have tried a Class A
drug, a category that includes heroin, cocaine and ecstasy. Nearly
half of young people have smoked cannabis.
The price of drugs has fallen, despite a rise in arrests of dealers
and increased seizures. A gramme of heroin typically cost AUKP54 in
2005, compared to AUKP70 in 2000.
In 2005, there were 1,644 drug-related deaths. An estimated four out
of 10 people who inject drugs have hepatitis C.
Prime Minister Tony Blair said his government had doubled funding for
the treatment of drug addicts and had overseen a 16% fall in drug
misuse since 1998.
aoeI appreciate weaTMve still got a very great deal more to do, but
it simply is not the case that weaTMre not making either the
investment or the changes that are necessary,a he told parliament.
The Home Office said last month that drug misuse had been reduced by
21% over the past nine years with a AUKP7.5bn programme of
enforcement, education and treatment.
But the headmaster of a leading public school said there was an
aoeepidemica of drug abuse among schoolchildren.
Speaking before a school anti-drugs conference, Dr Anthony Sheldon,
master of Wellington College in Berkshire, said: aoeWe in schools
need to be tougher and stronger than ever about drugs. Drug use is
now an epidemic amongst young people and there isnaTMt a school in
the country that doesnaTMt have a problem with drugs.a
An ICM poll last year found three in four people saw drugs as a
problem in their area. More than half said the police should be doing
more to tackle drugs.
The UK Drug Policy Commission was set up with a three-year grant from
the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, a charity with a history of funding
social policy research.
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