Are Drug and Abuse Issues Treated as
Criminal Matters?
By Dr.Fourkan Ali
It is no secret that the Government is split
over how to best approach the alcohol and drug abuse problem in Britain. Within
the debate is a group of leaders calling for the decriminalisation of most
drugs in an effort to treat addiction as a health problem rather than a
criminal matter. Yet a letter written by the executive director of the Changing
Lives charity suggests that, practically speaking, there really is no debate here.
Ollie Batchelor maintains that the common
practice all across Britain is to treat all but the most serious offenders as
patients with health problems rather than criminals. He says courts routinely
deal with offenders by issuing minimal fines and referring them to treatment.
Only dealers and persistent offenders face harsh punishment for their actions.
If Mr Batchelor were correct, it would seem as
though the decriminalisation question has already been settled. And if so,
Batchelor contends that the real issue is funding. He said that cash-strapped
local authorities are looking to reduce spending in any way they can,
oftentimes targeting drug and alcohol treatment programmes for cuts. On that
count, he is right. The amount of money the Government spends on addiction
recovery has been falling for years.
There was a time when the NHS referred alcohol
and drug addicts to residential treatment and picked up the bill themselves.
Those days are over. These days, residential referrals are reserved for only
the most extreme cases. In order for an addict to qualify, he or she must jump
through a series of hoops proving they have exhausted all other options. Not
only has this new strategy eliminated opportunities for accessing private
treatment, it has led to the closure of private clinics across Britain.
Batchelor says that charities such as his are
at risk of suffering the same fate if things do not change. Changing Lives, as
with so many others, depends on government funding to keep daily operations
going. When local authorities cut that funding, the charities are forced to
rely more heavily on donations from private organisations. But that money is
not an inexhaustible well either.
The Wrong Debate
In light of what Mr
Batchelor wrote in his letter to The Guardian,
we would like to suggest the current debate over decriminalisation is the wrong
debate to be having. Instead, it would appear as though we need to be talking
about ways to increase funding for treatment programmes in order to adequately
help all those passing through our courts. It should be obvious that using the
courts to refer drug and alcohol addicts for treatment does not do any good if
the available treatment options are inadequate.
The truth of the
matter is that we cannot treat drug addiction as a health matter unless we have the funding
to do so. Finding ways to come up with the funding is far more important than
continuing to debate whether drugs should be decriminalised. The longer we
ignore the funding issue in favour of decriminalisation, the longer the problem
will go unaddressed.
Addiction Helper is here to assist you if you
or a loved one is struggling with drugs or alcohol. We know getting treatment
can be challenging, but we are here to help you if you are willing to make that
choice. As an independent organisation, we offer sound advice and treatment
referrals without being tied to a single treatment centre. Our number one goal
is to help you find and access the best treatment for your circumstances.
Please contact our 24-hour helpline for assistance with permanently overcoming
a drug or alcohol problem.
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