National strategy

The government's ten-year Drug Strategy "Drugs: Protecting Families and Communities" was launched in February 2008. This follows a preceding ten-year strategy entitled "Tackling Drugs to build a better Britain".

Over the next ten years the strategy aims to:

CUT drug-related crime and anti-social behaviour
CUT harm caused to young people by substance misuse
CUT the number of families devastated by drug use
INCREASE the number of drug users making a positive contribution to society
EXPAND and improve drug treatment services

The government has set out how it plans to reduce the harm caused by alcohol in its strategy "Safe. Sensible. Social."

Alcohol "Safe. Sensible. Social" strategy

CUT drug-related crime and anti-social behaviour

Using better intelligence to disrupt drug markets at home and abroad;
Extending police powers to seize more of the cash and particularly high value assets that drug dealers get from selling drugs;
Targeting the drug-misusing offenders who cause the most crime and getting them into effective treatment, so that we can continue to see reductions in acquisitive crimes such as burglary and shoplifting;
Expanding our work with other countries to establish asset-sharing agreements and to prevent drugs reaching the UK, including drug screening at overseas airports;
Ensuring tough sanctions for drug dealers importing and supplying drugs, including issuing ASBOs after conviction to prevent them re-establishing their businesses;
Ensuring that people are aware of work being done to tackle drugs and enforce the law in their area;
Working with neighbourhood policing teams across the country to ensure that community concerns about drugs are reported and acted upon;
Dismantling cannabis factories and taking tough action against the producers.

CUT harm caused to young people by substance misuse

Improving the information and guidance available to all parents to help them prevent young people from misusing drugs, alcohol and volatile substances;
Offering credible and useful drug advice and information to young people - for example through FRANK;
Improving school-based education, so that more schools are seen to be delivering effective drugs education, looking specifically at the potential benefits of delivering this education in primary schools;
Reducing the supply of drugs to young people through effective law enforcement;
Reducing the availability of alcohol, cigarettes and volatile substances through tougher action on illegal and underage sales;
Better tailoring of the drug treatment system to meet young people's needs, for example through parental involvement in the treatment process and ensuring a more seamless transition to adult services; and
Increasing access to sporting and positive activities.

CUT the number of families devastated by drug use

Ensuring problem drug users with children have ready access to treatment, and reducing the barriers to them accessing treatment;
Helping families at risk to improve parenting skills, supporting families to stay together and breaking the cycle of problems being transferred between generations or siblings, by drawing on learning from innovative programmes and providing intensive support where needed;
Supporting extended family members, such as grandparents, who take on caring responsibilities for the children of substance-misusing parents, by looking at the circumstances in which local authorities can make payments to those caring for children classified as ‘in need', backed up by improved information for carers and guidance for local authorities; and
Supporting parents with substance misuse problems so that children do not fall into excessive or inappropriate caring roles.

INCREASE the number of drug users making a positive contribution to society

Increasing the support available to problem drug users to help them get housing and work, through a new role for treatment agencies, working with job centres and housing advice services;
Using the benefits system to get more problem drug users off benefits and into work; and
Setting up trial projects to explore the potential of a more flexible use of funding to address individual needs.

EXPAND and improve drug treatment services

Tailoring drug treatment more closely to individual needs, including those of people with complex needs, such as mental health problems;
Ensuring better access to treatment, in particular for crack users, black and minority ethnic misusers and women;
Providing family-friendly services for people with children;
Driving higher completion rates for clients on treatment programmes, with more people re-establishing their lives and moving into work;
Improving the standard of all treatment services, with a sharper focus on treatment outcomes and on more clients overcoming drug dependence;
Achieving better quality and more consistency of drug treatment across all prisons; and
Boosting our understanding of addiction and identifying opportunities for new forms of treatment and prevention.