Give drug addicts heroin, says officer UK
MANCHESTER - Heroin should be prescribed to drug addicts to tackle crime, the deputy chief constable of Nottinghamshire has said at a drugs conference.
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Howard Roberts told an Association of Chief Police Officers’ conference in Manchester the idea should be assessed. He said the treatment would cost £12,000 a year per addict but added that drug users steal property valued at an average of £45,000 a year. The idea is being piloted in London, the South East and North of England.
„At the moment across the country we see levels of burglary, robbery and murder being committed by drug-fuelled addicts who are doing so in order to get the money to buy the drugs”, Mr Roberts told the conference. „One of the things I have found is that as a treatment it has been highly effective in actually helping to reduce crime. We’ve seen good levels of falls in drug-related acquisitive crime.”
Martin Barnes, chief executive of drugs charity DrugScope, said: „There is compelling evidence that heroin prescribing, although more expensive than some forms of drug treatment, is cost-effective in reducing drug-related crime and other costs to communities.”
In the Department of Health pilots, 300 to 400 drug users receive heroin for their addiction. A report on the study is expected next month. Similar schemes in Holland and Switzerland reported some users turning away from crime. (RD)
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