Drug users face benefit cuts; Rehab dropouts to be hit in the pocket

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), Feb 27, 2008

Byline: By DAVID BARRETT News Correspondent

DRUG addicts who drop out of treatment programmes will have their benefits cut under new plans announced today.

The Government's new 10-year drug strategy will reveal proposals to shake-up the welfare system, effectively punishing drug abusers who fail to get clean.

In another radical move, grandparents will be encouraged to look after children whose parents are addicts, and social workers will intervene earlier when children are growing up around drug-users.

Under the new strategy, schools will also be encouraged to improve anti-drugs lessons.

Other measures first reported earlier this week will see valuables seized from suspected drug barons even before they are charged with a crime.

Assets such as plasma TVs and jewellery - as well as larger items such as cars and yachts - would be confiscated on arrest.

The plans have already been attacked by shadow home secretary David Davis and civil liberties groups, who queried the legality of seizing goods before convictions.

Ministers will insist such steps are necessary to prevent drug dealers and crime lords hiding their assets in the weeks or months before they are charged and tried.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We now know that we can succeed in tackling drugs, because the last 10 years have seen progress and some notable successes.

"The percentage of people who use drugs has fallen since 1998, and is at an 11-year low.

Because we have invested in drug treatment, we are getting people into treatment quicker than ever before, with people waiting on average less than two and a half weeks for treatment, rather than nine weeks in 2001."

The strategy, published in full later today, will also include new moves to target the worst drug offenders, seek new deals with foreign governments to reduce trafficking and provide better access to drug treatment for women and ethnic minorities.

Last July, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced that junkies and ex-drug addicts would be asked for ideas on how to reduce the damage caused by drugs.

Focus groups and other market research exercises would feed into the new drugs strategy, she said.

More than 200,000 consultation leaflets were also distributed to police stations, GPs surgeries, libraries and other public places as part of the programme.

People will be asked whether cannabis should be reclassified as a Class B drug - reintroducing tougher penalties - following Prime Minister Gordon Brown's decision to ask for a review of the drug's downgrading in 2004.

The drug strategy applies mainly to England and Wales, but some aspects such as drug classification cover the whole of the UK.

In October, figures showed use of cannabis was still declining.

CAPTION(S):

STRATEGY: Home Secretary Jacqui Smith