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£179 million of the extra money will go directly to Drug Action Teams to double the amount spent on treating  50,000 most seriously affected drug users, including many persistent offenders and drug users with associated alcohol and mental health problems, who frequently fail to complete courses of treatment.

The extra investment will increase the effectiveness of treatment for these individuals through investment in:

There will also be provision within the funding to allow an extra 40,000 clients to be treated round the country and  to expand treatment for under 18s with drug problems.   This will reduce the risk of today's young people becoming problem drug users and will increase the likelihood of them continuing with their education and prevent their involvement in crime.  The money, which will be invested over two years, will give treatment providers the confidence to start planning the expansion of their services straight away.

John Reid said:  'This extra funding is crucial to help drug users with the most complex problems who currently tend to drop out of treatment.    These people go on to commit the most crime, have the greatest health costs associated with their drug use and are most likely  to be unemployed and homeless.  These are all problems that impact on the whole of society and which we are committed to   tackling.'

 'We have already made great strides in getting more people in to drug treatment services.  Many people have turned around   their lives and returned to their families and gone back to work as a result of the treatment they receive from dedicated    professionals.  The new money which will allow 40,000 extra drug users to be helped by 2008, will ensure that more people get  the treatment that they need.'

In addition to this, the Government will invest £40m every year to expand drug treatment within prisons to ensure that an estimated 78,000 prisoners receive effective treatment services by 2008. Prisons will be supporting the additional investment in prisons with extra facilities and counselling for prisoners with drug problems.

Home Secretary, David Blunkett said:

 "Over the course of a year there are around 78,000 prisoners requiring drug treatment. It is vital that they receive effective   treatment if we are to stop the cycle of drug related offending, which only sees them returning to prison. This money will help   ensure that we can continue to improve the drug testing and treatment that offenders with serious drug problems desperately   need."

Paul Hayes from the National Treatment Agency said:

 'The significant increases in Government investment over recent years, has enabled more drug misusers to access treatment   more quickly than ever before.  Today's announcement will ensure that each local community has the capacity to improve the   quality and effectiveness of treatment, whilst at the same time, continuing to treat even more clients, more quickly.  The NTA will  continue to performance manage improvements in both the quantity and quality of community based and residential treatment for  drug misusers. '