The government has appointed Dame Carol Black as an independent advisor on drug misuse and will publish an ambitious new drug strategy later this year it has been announced
Dame Carol will advise the government on the development and delivery of a new drug strategy – to be published by the end of the year– which will set out a full response to her review recommendations. The strategy will take a genuinely cross-government approach to tackle the supply and demand for illegal drugs simultaneously.
The response also includes immediate actions to deal with the problems of drug misuse, including by expanding Project ADDER – which combines targeted law enforcement against drugs gangs with improved treatment and recovery services – to eight new local authorities with £31m in new funding for the next 2 years.
Project ADDER sites will be set up in 2 London boroughs (Hackney and Tower Hamlets), 3 local authorities in Liverpool City Region (Liverpool City, Wirral, Knowsley), Bristol, Newcastle and Wakefield. The programme brings together partners across health, enforcement, employment and housing to tackle the problems of drugs misuse across the board.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said:
Drugs destroy lives, ruin families, and tear apart communities and I will do everything in my power to stop this poisonous cycle.
We will not let criminal gangs continue to cash in on vulnerable people, which is why we are setting up new targeted projects in eight areas in England to disrupt drug supply and support those in need with treatment and recovery.
With drug misuse costing society £19.3 billion a year, and deaths rising, the need to address this has never been more urgent. I welcome Dame Carol Black’s appointment to advise the government as we prepare to launch an ambitious strategy to tackle this problem at its root.
Dame Carol Black said:
Drugs inflict serious and increasing harm on society and, as my review shows, the provision of services for those addicted requires a reformed whole-system approach.
I am pleased that the government have signalled their intention to prioritise this by establishing the Joint cross-Government Unit which was one of my recommendations.
I am also delighted to have been given the opportunity to continue to advise the government which shows that they want to put treatment, recovery and prevention at the heart of the upcoming strategy. I will use this role to keep holding all partners to account and to support efforts to combat the drugs that ruin so many lives.
