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Green_T


Registered: 10/02/08
Posts: 4,042
Loc: UK
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Breakthrough in Britain's war on drugs and crime
#13292391 - 10/05/10 08:20 AM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Breakthrough in Britain's war on drugs and crime 4 October 2010 - The Independent
The long battle to break the link between drug addiction and criminal behaviour is being won, a ground-breaking study into the long-term success rates of treatment programmes suggests. Nearly a half of all addicts who participated in drug courses in 2005 have been found to be free from addiction and no longer committing crime four years after leaving treatment. For those with cannabis or cocaine habits the success rates are as high as 69 per cent and 64 per cent respectively.
The success rate among the 41,000 drug users involved in the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse and Home Office study is higher than previous government figures for reoffending rates for addicts on court rehabilitation orders.
These findings, to be considered by the National Treatment Agency (NTA) board meeting today, will add to the pressure on ministers to pull back from cutting millions of pounds of funding for drug treatment. They will also influence the Coalition's drug strategy due to be launched at the end of the year.
Paul Hayes, chief executive of the NTA, said: "These findings are very exciting because they help us define more accurately what success looks like for drug treatment. Typically, a user coming into treatment is heavily addicted, in poor health and has low self-esteem. They are often at their peak of criminal activity and the prospects for long-term recovery can seem bleak."
In an international first, the NTA tracked the post-treatment outcome of drug users over a four-year period, discovering that almost half of those discharged in one year subsequently demonstrated sustained recovery from addiction. Of the remainder discharged in 2005-6, about half directly returned to treatment, and a further one-third were redirected back into treatment through contact with the criminal justice system. Of those who left treatment but subsequently reoffended using drugs, 65 per cent went back into treatment.
The NTA matched four years' worth of National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) data with drug test records and the Drug Interventions Programme to evaluate the long-term outcomes of drug treatment for 41,475 people who left drug treatment in England in 2005-06.
Mr Hayes said: "Experts agree that heroin and crack cocaine users take several years to overcome addiction, and need repeated attempts before they do. This means annual statistical reports of numbers in drug treatment can present a distorted picture of a system that is subject to a steady ebb and flow of people coming and going over a longer time frame."
He added: "Now, thanks to our extensive NDTMS database, we can follow the treatment journey of individuals over successive years and demonstrate that positive change and recovery from addiction is possible."
Although, there is no international equivalent study, the NTA results compare favourably with long-running studies about the prospects of recovery. They also compare favourably with figures for the short-term outcomes of prisoners on drug rehabilitation and supervision orders, which show that two thirds go on to reoffend.
Mike Trace, the former deputy "drug tsar" under Labour, said that these success rates would be even greater if the Government could find a way to devote more funding to intensive drug-treatment programmes in prison.
Commenting on the study, Martin Barnes, the chief executive of DrugScope, said: "There is no silver bullet to overcoming addiction – drug dependency is a relapsing condition and it can take several attempts at treatment before a sustained recovery is possible. This study is helpful in building a clearer picture of what the treatment system has achieved, but we need to be even more ambitious."
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: "The Government is committed to tackling the problem of drugs and to introducing a rehabilitation revolution that will ensure that sentencing for drug use helps offenders come off drugs, and explore alternative forms of secure, treatment-based accommodation for drug offenders."
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"I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man" - Thomas Jefferson Legalize Meth | Drug War Victims
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s0ulfire



Registered: 06/06/10
Posts: 460
Loc: USA
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: Breakthrough in Britain's war on drugs and crime [Re: Green_T]
#13292690 - 10/05/10 09:55 AM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Marijuana isnt addictive.. god I just want to punch whoever says that in the mouth everytime I hear it.
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"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes" - Corey Taylor
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Le_Canard
The Duk Abides


Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 94,392
Loc: Earthfarm 1
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Re: Breakthrough in Britain's war on drugs and crime [Re: s0ulfire]
#13292707 - 10/05/10 10:00 AM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Well, it can be psychologically addicting to some, but you can get that with anything, really. My step-dad, an MD, used to treat little old ladies with laxative addictions, believe it or not.
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s0ulfire



Registered: 06/06/10
Posts: 460
Loc: USA
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: Breakthrough in Britain's war on drugs and crime [Re: Le_Canard]
#13292727 - 10/05/10 10:06 AM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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I believe it... my g-ma still uses laxatives regularly... I thought I had a psychological addiction to weed, then they put me on tasc, and i quit easy as pie, thus proving my point its not ANYWHERE addicting as some of the more popular drugs here in AZ: METH, H, and Pills
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"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes" - Corey Taylor
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Le_Canard
The Duk Abides


Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 94,392
Loc: Earthfarm 1
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Re: Breakthrough in Britain's war on drugs and crime [Re: s0ulfire]
#13292733 - 10/05/10 10:10 AM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Oh yeah. I think laxatives are more harmful than weed any day. At least with weed withdrawals you just get a bit of insomnia, some mild cravings and maybe being a bit out of sorts for a while. It's not like withdrawals from the harder stuff, to be sure.
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s0ulfire



Registered: 06/06/10
Posts: 460
Loc: USA
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: Breakthrough in Britain's war on drugs and crime [Re: Le_Canard]
#13292802 - 10/05/10 10:23 AM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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Yea last week I went clean and have been since... I had really bad insomnia the first night, the second night I broke my toe and had no sleep either.. fml. Ive been smokin spice... so horrible
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"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes" - Corey Taylor
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Sophistic Radiance
Free sVs!



Registered: 07/11/06
Posts: 43,135
Loc: Center of the Universe
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Re: Breakthrough in Britain's war on drugs and crime [Re: s0ulfire]
#13292907 - 10/05/10 10:46 AM (13 years, 7 months ago) |
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I can't imagine an environment where meth, H, and pills are more popular than weed... sounds like some scary shit.
I like the news that has been coming out of Britain lately, it seems like their prohibitionists are every bit as closed-minded as ours but their reformers are principled, intelligent, and forceful as all hell. David Nutt is a hero.
-------------------- Enlil said: You really are the worst kind of person.
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s0ulfire



Registered: 06/06/10
Posts: 460
Loc: USA
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Well, i mean weed IS the most popular thing here... but that is EVERYWHERE man. Its just AZ is on the border of mexico and cali, the two biggest meth ports... cali gets it from asia, and AZ gets the direct Mexican Cocaine/Meth cartels
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"You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes" - Corey Taylor
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