MORE CASH TO SPEND ON TREATING DRUG ADDICTS

Health boards in Tayside and Fife will spend more than UKP 2.2 million
treating drug addicts next year.

NHS Tayside will spend nearly UKP 1.5 million on treating drug addicts next
year-the third highest amount in Scotland.

Research has shown that Dundee had the second highest rate in the country
for heroin and tranquilliser abuse.

The Scottish Executive will award the board UKP 1,483,000 for the treatment
of problem drug users during 2002-03.

The Executive defines a problem drug user as someone with a dependence on
opiates or benzodiazepane tranquillisers.

It will represent an increase of over UKP 140,00 from the previous year.
Over the last five years spending per annum has increased by over UKP
550,000 to tackle the growing problem.

Fife Health Board will receive the relatively smaller figure of UKP
783,000-up from UKP 698,000 the previous year.

Only Greater Glasgow Health Board and Lothian Health Board have been
allocated more cash than NHS Tayside, with the boards receiving UKP 4.48
million and UKP 3.54 million from the Scottish Executive respectively.

In Tayside this will work out as a spending of UKP 344 per patient over the
coming year, over UKP 40 per year over the national average, which is UKP
303 per year. However, in Fife only UKP 275 will be spent per problem user.

A report commissioned by the Scottish Executive last year discovered that
almost 2700 people in Dundee were taking opiates or benzodiazepanes-an
alarming 3.5% of the population aged between 15 and 24.

At the time they awarded an extra UKP 1.3 million of extra cash-over and
above existing spending-to fight the problem.