domingo, 19 de junio de 2011

Benefits and treatment for drug addicts cost £3.6 billion a year - Telegraph.co.uk

"There is one simple measure of success: that of six months abstinence from drugs."

Kathy Gyngell, chairwoman of the prisons and addictions policy forum at the CPS and the report's author, said prescribing methadone to drug addicts delays their recovery from addiction and has been "extremely expensive".

The annual cost of maintaining treatment and paying benefits to the 320,000 problem drug users is £3.6 billion, the report estimated.

This includes £1.7 billion in benefits, £1.2 billion for looking after the children of drug addicts and £730 million for prescribing methadone.

"The social and moral costs are far greater still," the report said.

It added that there were as many addicts today as there were in 2004/05 and fewer than 4% emerge from treatment free from dependency.

Ms Gyngell called for "a real transfer of power from large distant organisations to small innovative providers" and said modern rehabilitation units can be successful in turning addicts' lives round.

One former addict, Carl, who had been on methadone and valium prescriptions for 22 years, has now been clean for five years after taking part in the 12-step drug detox and treatment programme at the Providence project.

"I have been a fully salaried worker now for three years, renting my own private accommodation, paying tax, putting back and not benefit dependent at all," he said.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "The 2010 Drug Strategy is fundamentally different from those that have gone before.

"Instead of focusing primarily on reducing the harms caused by drug misuse, our approach will be to go much further and offer every support for people to choose recovery as an achievable way out of dependence.

"The aim is to get people into treatment and off drugs for good and back into work."

He went on: "Following a public consultation, Building Recovery in Communities, work is under way to support local recovery systems tailored to the needs of communities, many of which are already showing positive results.

"The creation of Public Health England at a national level, to support and oversee local commissioning arrangements for drugs and alcohol services, is the best vehicle for taking forward the Government's ambition of recovery for people dependent on alcohol or drugs."

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