DrugScope believes that anyone experiencing a drug problem should have access to high quality, evidence-based treatment. Needle exchange, substitute prescribing, detoxification services, twelve step programmes, structured day services, residential rehabilitation and other services all have a role to play. The key thing is to ensure that people are getting the right service for them, delivered in the right way and at the right time. There are many routes into drug dependency and so there need to be a variety of routes out of it.
Drug treatment at the crossroads: what it's for, where it's at and how to make it even better.
'There is a fundamental debate taking place in our field. We need to lift our heads up from technical discussion and defend our right to develop philosophies of care which are about shaping recovery ...'
Ian Wardle, Chief Executive, Lifeline
| This DrugScope report reflects on the results and prospects of drug treatment in the UK ten years on from the introduction of the national drug strategy in 1998. At a time when drug treatment has come in for some uninformed and unwarranted criticism from sections of the media and politicians, we held a series of consultation events across the country with a wide range of people involved in different ways with drug services on the front line. We also analysed the facts and evidence. The report concludes that investment in drug treatment is delivering real and substantial benefits for individuals, communities and society at large. It is helping to transform the lives of some of the most marginalised people in the community, while providing good value for taxpayers. We should celebrate the achievements of drug treatment. | | Please click the image to open a digital copy of the report. (Requires Flash Player) |
But there is no room for complacency. While drugs like methadone have a clear role in drug treatment - and are recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence for opiate dependency - they do not directly address the causes and contexts of drug dependency. The challenge - as explained in this report - is to develop policy and services that view drug dependency as a social policy issue, not simply a medical one, while embodying the best clinical and therapeutic practice. Packed with direct quotations from people involved with drug services, the report also sketches out the contours of a fuller and more ambitious vision of recovery.
Please click here to download a PDF (2.1MB) of the report or view it in our document reader (click thumbnail image of report cover above to launch).
Please click here for a link to the press release accompanying the report launch.
If you have any comments or views on the report we would like to hear from you. Please contact Dr Marcus Roberts at marcusr@drugscope.org.uk
Prisons Minister responds to Drug treatment at the crossroads
Prisons Minister David Hanson has written to DrugScope chief executive Martin Barnes regarding Drug treatment at the crossroads. In his letter, the Minister commends the report for providing 'a welcome contribution to the complex debate about the balance of drug treatment options.'
You can read the Minister's letter in full here.
Smoking and drug treatment
In a recent submission to a Department of Health consultation, DrugScope argued that drug treatment services could do more work to support service users to access smoking cessation and to minimise smoking related harms.
