Welfare Reform Bill
11:54 am
Martin Barnes: The focus, as intended, is primarily around heroin and crack cocaine users. Even those problem drug users could be misusing other drugs as well, not least alcohol. Obviously, drug treatment services try to engage with and respond to the issue of polydrug use—people misusing a range of different drugs—but that can be particularly difficult and challenging.
I do not know the answer to your question about the number of people who are misusing or dependent on tranquilisers, and it might be quite difficult to get evidence. The all-party group on drugs misuse recently published a report about the misuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and one of the points that it made is that we simply do not know enough about the extent of dependency on prescribed drugs and medicines that have always had a legitimate use. What we do know, particularly from the evidence that was given to the all-party group’s inquiry, is that people who have a problem with the misuse of or dependency on such drugs often find it very difficult to access treatment and support.
One difficulty is that investment in drug treatment has been largely driven by the link with crime, and the focus is still very much on heroin and crack cocaine users. People, particularly adults, who have problems with other drugs, not least alcohol, do not always access the help and support that they need. There is often lack of support and provision for stimulant users and those who misuse drugs such as amphetamines. A drug that is not of particular concern at the moment, because, thankfully, its use is still quite low level, is crystal meth. There is an issue about the range of support that the existing capacity of treatment services can provide.