Policy Hub
On 4 March 2010, the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report which looks at government attempts to tackle problem drug use.
The report insists that reducing the harm caused by problem drug use presents a complex and chronic challenge. This is being addressed by a series of government strategies and programmes and substantial resources: £1.2 billion will be spent in 2009-10 alone.
The report concludes that good progress has been made in a number of areas, including growing numbers of problem drug users in effective treatment plus an increasing number leaving treatment free from dependency.
However, without an evaluative framework for the strategy as a whole, the report finds that it is unable to reach a positive conclusion with regard to value for money, though it does cite evidence which indicates that the benefit-cost ratio for drug treatment, the largest element of spending, is 2.5 to 1.
It is estimated that there are a third of a million problem drug users in England. As part of an increased emphasis on drug treatment, funding rose from £481m in 2004-05 to £581m in 2008-09. The report notes that over this period, the number of adults in effective treatment increased from 134,000 to 195,000 and the number of problem drug users completing their treatment free from dependency rose from 6,000 to 15,000.
Actions to help drug users re-establish their lives have had more limited success. Around 80% of problem drug users claim benefits at a cost over £40 million a year. A £13 million a year initiative to get drug users into work has not proved effective. Over the period 2006-07 to 2008-09, around 12,500 people a year entered the programme. But the proportion who kept a job for 13 weeks or more has stayed constant at around 8%, equating to costs of £11,600 for each drug user who remained in employment.