Consensus Statement
The Drugs and Health Alliance is a group of organisations and individuals who support an evidence-based, public health-led approach to dealing with illegal drugs. An overwhelming body of evidence shows that the criminal justice-led approach to illicit drugs at home and abroad increases harms associated with their production, supply and use, whilst public health-led approaches consistently reduce harm. For many years there has been reluctance from the voluntary sector to criticise policy, because of their reliance on government funding; problems that are perpetuated by the Government's failure to conduct an evidence based review of the progress of the UK drug strategy and its failure to consult with informed public opinion.
In 2007, the UK ten-year drug strategy comes to an end and a window of opportunity opens. DHA supporters want to be included in the policy development process to assist in putting in place an effective strategy for the next decade.
1998-2007 An overwhelming criminal justice approach:
- Prioritisation of crime reduction over harm reduction
- Over-reliance on enforcement as a route of entry into treatment has operated to the detriment of many problematic users
- Enactment of Drugs Act 2005 and Serious and Organised Crime Act 2005
- Commitment to inflexible and outdated UN Conventions on Drugs and harshly enforced domestic drug laws has created and exacerbated harm
- The consequence of which is punishment and stigmatisation of some of the most vulnerable and excluded members of society
2008-2017 Putting health first:
Drugs are a complex international, social issue that demand a strategic management approach, not a blunt criminal justice one. We believe that a comprehensive, joined up approach to drug policy development and implementation can only be realised if the drugs brief is taken out of its almost exclusive position in the Home Office, enabling us to develop a policy that is truly cross-departmental and placed within a public health framework. This shift would:
- Put public health and harm reduction at the heart of UK drug policy
- Facilitate the development and implementation of evidence based strategies that are more effective at reducing harm
- Deliver improved value for money on drug strategy budgets, as measured against key public health and criminal justice indicators
- Enable more effective cross departmental planning, less shaped by emotive, politicised criminal justice agendas (including health bodies sharing crime reduction performance targets with criminal justice bodies)
- Reduce health inequalities and, by extension, reduce deprivation, improve life chances and reduce offending (all of which are Home Office objectives)
- Reduce some of the counterproductive effects of the international and domestic drugs enforcement strategy
This would, in turn:
- Improve public health outcomes and protect the human rights of drug users
- Enable us to better address the social issues that underlie most problematic use
- Encourage effective efforts to reduce the progression from use to problematic use
- Direct resources into helping some of the most vulnerable and excluded members of society
DHA is calling on the Government to:
- Prioritise public health goals
- Implement a truly cross-departmental, public health-led strategy and place the lead role in the relevant health agencies
- Commission an independent audit of outcomes against expenditure comparing public health with criminal justice approaches
- Hold an official cross-departmental consultation on the efficacy of criminal justice and public health approaches
- Reallocate drug strategy expenditure from criminal justice to public health
DHA also calls for:
- A quadripartite select committee to be convened to conduct an enquiry into UK and international drug policy, the National Audit Office to conduct a value for money study of enforcement outcomes and the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to review the drug strategy and suggest reforms.
Who we are:
The Drugs and Health Alliance currently includes: the Beckley Foundation, the International Harm Reduction Association, the Kaleidoscope Project, Release, Transform Drug Policy Foundation and the UK Harm Reduction Alliance.
What we plan to do:
The DHA will produce briefings and discussion documents, hold seminars and brief policy makers, press and voluntary sector organisations on the benefits of an evidence-based, public health-led approach to dealing with drugs.
What you can do:
- Join the DHA by signing up your organisation to the growing list of members. This can be done by contacting the DHA Secretariat on (0117) 941 5810.
- Become active within your field by campaigning for, and promoting the work and goals of the DHA.
- Press contact: Danny Kushlick on (0117) 941 5810
