NEW PUBLICATION
Breaking the Habit: Why the state should stop dealing drugs and start doing rehab by Kathy Gyngell
In this new report, leading drugs analyst Kathy Gyngell shows that:
- New Labour’s approach to drug addiction – prescribing addicts with methadone in an attempt to reduce crime and improve addicts’ health – has been an expensive failure (new estimates for this paper indicate that the annual cost of maintaining treatment and paying benefits to the 320,000 problem drug users is £3.6 billion).
- Coalition proposals to introduce Payment by Result (PbR) trials are well-intentioned but doomed to failure, not least because they are being run by the very organisations responsible for the current failure of policy
- There is an alternative. The problem is one of addiction. The solution lies in freeing people from it. This is being achieved with remarkable success rates by small modern rehabilitation units – none of which have been allowed to apply to run the Coalition’s PbR trials.
Kathy Gyngell argues that PbR can work if the importance of abstinence-based rehabilitation is recognised and if bids from such operators are sought. And, crucially, if there is one simple measure of success: that of six months abstinence from all drugs and alcohol.
The full report can be downloaded from here.
Media Impact
- BBC News: Drugs treatment policy for England doomed to failure & Drug policy in England ‘grossly imbalanced’ Ran as 3rd news bulletin item for both BBC TV and Radio through the day of publication
- Sky News: Treating Drug Addicts ‘Costs £3.6bn A Year’
- Daily Telegraph: Benefits and treatment for drug addicts cost £3.6 billion a year
- The Independent: Failure to help drug addicts is costing Britain £3.6 billion a year
- Daily Express: £3.6bn drug addict bill
- Yorkshire Post: Failure to reform drug users costing £3.6bn a year
- News of the World: Addicts cost you £3.6 billion
- Mirror: Taxpayers foot £3.6 billion bill for drug addicts
- People: Giving methadone substitute to heroin addicts costs Britain £3.6 billion a year, says new report
- Wales Online: Taxpayers footing £3.6 billion bill to look after drug junkies
- South Yorkshire Times: £3.6 billion cost of treating drug users
- Skegness Standard: £3.6 billion cost of treating drug users
- BOT – Drug Policy Central: Britain’s drug treatment policy criticised in new report
- Brighouse Echo: £3.6 billion cost of treating drug users
- Fresh Business Thinking: Addicts trapped in £3.2 billion cycle of benefit dependency
- News Tonight: Britain spends £3.6 billion a year on treatment for 32,000 drug addicts
- Press TV: Britain’s drugs policy ‘doomed to fail’
ARTICLES AND MEDIA
- Michael Johnson wrote for The Telegraph about the uncertain future of pension tax relief.
- Michael Johnson spoke to Global Times, a Beijing based Chinese national daily newspaper about the international lessons that can be learned from the European pensions systems.
- Michael also appeared on BBC News 24 at 7pm last Friday to discuss the same issue.
‘I WANT MY SHARE’ CAMPAIGN
Following the successful publication of our ‘Give us our Fair Shares’ bank reprivatisation paper, the Centre for Policy Studies is continuing the campaign for the British public to be given shares in RBS and Lloyds.
Since our last update:
- The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg MP, has come out in support of a policy very close to our proposals. Unfortunately, there still appears to be lots of misunderstanding about how the proposals would work – something we are working hard at the CPS to rectify.
- The Economist wrote a very supportive blog piece on the proposal, arguing ‘there aren’t many proposals that would benefit both the Treasury and the average taxpayer (or voter) while depriving financial institutions of an unearned profit.’
- Steve Baker MP has given his support to the campaign. He tweeted: “must remind Chancellor of @CPSthinktank paper on bank reprivatisation which would ensure a good deal for taxpayers. Easy to sell it stupidly.”
- The authors of the paper – James Conway, Toby Fenwick and Michael O’Connor – provided a follow-up implementation paper to the Treasury, which outlined solutions and guidance on some of the technicalities and implementation issues surrounding the policy.
Show your support for ‘I want my share’ on Facebook and Twitter:
‘I want my share’ ‘I want my share’
FROM THE BLOG
- Ryan Bourne discusses the potential future problems that high inflation will cause for the government in ‘The Coalition’s Inflation Headache’
- Jon Wilson assesses the United States dilemma in its funding of NATO in ‘NATO’s Uncertain Future’
- Kathy Gyngell examines the prescription scandal in ‘Cover up or chronic complacency, the Coalition brings no resolution to the ‘national health’ benzo prescribing scandal’
- Our latest intern Jon Wilson argues for a greater role of our military reserves in ‘Strengthening the Military’s Reserves’
- Kieron O’Hara examines the options and policies open to Greece in ‘Germany will have to give some ground’
- Conservative Fastrack Chairman Alan Mak outlines how ‘Generation Y can energise the Big Society’
Don’t forget to follow the Centre for Policy Studies on:
Date Added: Friday 24th June 2011
