Department of Health

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Drug Strategy

  • Last modified date:
    15 September 2008
Tackling Drugs, Changing Lives

The new ten-year drug strategy (2008-2018) aims to restrict the supply of illegal drugs and reduce the demand for them. It focuses on protecting families and strengthening communities.  The drug strategy is a cross-government initiative. While the Home Office has overall responsibility for delivery of the strategy, the Department of Health is responsible for drug treatment aspects which form a key part of the strategy.

Key drug treatment actions in the Drug Strategy:

  • Drug treatment services will become even more personalised towards meeting an individual’s needs.  New kinds of treatment will be piloted and delivered through the National Treatment Agency
  • Treatment agencies will have a new role to work closely with Job Centres and housing services to help drug users re-establish their lives
  • Drug users claiming benefits will be required to attend a discussion with a specialist treatment provider
  • Family-based treatment services to protect more young people and families
  • Piloting pooled budgets to allow local partnerships to bring together funding streams to improve reductions in drug  harm
  • Major improvements to prison drug treatment to ensure better quality and more consistent drug treatment across all prisons

Complete details of the drug strategy can be found on the Home Office website via the link below:

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