In December 2021, the Government announced its largest ever funding to help fight addiction under its ten year Drug Strategy.
The Department of Health and Social Care revealed a record £780 million would be used to rebuild the drug treatment system in communities across England, helping to improve access to treatment, increase service capacity and reverse the upward trend in drug use.
Last month, it was raised to £900 million when the government announced an additional £120 million was being added to see the rollout of specialised wings across England and Wales to tackle addiction in prisons.
How Will the £900 Million Drug Strategy Tackle Addiction?
The strategy is set to span over the next decade, with plans for the first £780 million to help:
- Offer drug treatment, accommodation, education and employment support to every opiate and crack cocaine user.
- Support offenders leaving statutory probation with supervision to ensure they receive continued help.
- Trial coordination of all local services around the individual drug user.
- Bring prolific offenders into local integrated offender management schemes with increased levels of oversight and rehabilitation support.
- Take a tougher approach to drug-related reoffending through greater use of community sentences with drug rehab requirements, drug testing and stronger electronic monitoring options.
The additional £120 million will be used to see the rollout of 18 drug wings in prisons by 2025 which will treat drug addiction through abstinence in order to keep prisoners substance free.
How Effective Will the Drug Strategy Really Be?
One of the main issues with the Drug Strategy is the heavy focus on eliminating drug-related crime as opposed to providing essential addiction treatment to those most vulnerable in England and Wales for long term recovery.
Although helping individuals to become substance free is an essential first step, this alone is not effective for sustainable long-term addiction recovery and individuals often relapse.
In order to treat addiction, it’s important to understand how it works and the underlying mental health issues that often go hand-in-hand with the disease.
Without treatment such as therapy that helps individuals to understand their addiction, triggers and the necessary skills to cope with them, a relapse is highly likely.
This is especially true for those leaving prison and returning to their ‘old’ lives where there are greater triggers and less monitoring from staff.
This is why drug rehab experts have repeatedly affirmed that individuals with addictions stand a better chance of achieving abstinence after five years by undergoing rehab at a private clinic compared to any other alternative.
Private rehabilitation centres such as Acquiesce not only provide a safe place to detox, they also deliver a high level of focused treatment tailored to each individual’s unique addiction and set of circumstances, providing them with all the necessary knowledge and skills to sustain long-term recovery.
Get The Right Kind Of Support Today
If you are struggling with an addiction and would like to schedule a free consultation with Acquiesce or find out more about our programmes, please call 01204 771940 or submit an entry form.
Any questions you have will be answered by a member of our specialist recovery staff who will be happy to discuss the range of services we offer, in relation to your unique circumstances. Your enquiry and any personal information will remain confidential.
