New evidence shows drug treatment cuts crime
Press release: 17 November 2008Groundbreaking research demonstrates that drug users in treatment commit fewer crimes to feed their habit.
Offences typically committed by addicts – such as theft – fell by almost half when the individuals were in drug treatment programmes, according to Police National Computer data.
Until now, experts have measured the impact of treatment on the criminal activity of drug users by studying how the users report their own changes in behaviour.
But researchers from The University of Manchester’s National Drug Evidence Centre (NDEC) have for the first time matched anonymised data from the Police National Computer to information in the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System.
They studied around 1,500 opiate and crack-cocaine users who had recently offended but were not jailed, and started drug treatment in the community instead. This meant the sample were technically free to commit further offences.
The total number of crimes committed almost halved following the start of their treatment, from 4,381 to 2,348. The key category, of theft offences, fell from 1,234 to 635.
Dr Tim Millar, Deputy Director of the NDEC, said: “The results of this pilot analysis are encouraging. We found that the opiate and crack users in our sample committed fewer recorded crimes after treatment started.”
Reductions were consistent across the board for a range of drug-associated crimes: violence more than halved, as did crimes including fraud, drug possession and prostitution.
Half of the individuals committed no follow-up crime at all, and those who did commit further offences did so at the same rate as before treatment. In fact a higher percentage of the offences committed while in treatment were for breach of a previous sentence rather than for a new crime.
The findings were even starker for a sub-sample of around 950 offenders who were charged with acquisition or drug-related offences which would prompt drug testing on arrest. The number of follow-up crimes committed fell by nearly two thirds: from 2,023 to 793 (61 per cent). Theft fell by more than half from 1,245 to 539 (57 per cent).
The longer individuals from this sub-group were in treatment (up to 10 months in some cases), the fewer follow-up crimes were committed.
Drug dependency is a chronic relapsing condition that can take years to overcome. Problematic users like heroin and crack addicts are typically prescribed a substitute like methadone in the initial stages of treatment so they come off illegal drugs.
Paul Hayes, Chief Executive of the National Treatment Agency (NTA), said: “Drug treatment brings a variety of benefits to both individuals and society through better health and less crime. While this research confirms the value of using substitute prescribing as a first-line treatment to stabilize drug users, it also shows that crime is cut rather than being eradicated altogether. This reinforces the need for drug workers to go further and do more to actively get users off drugs and re-integrated into society.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
The NTA was set up by the Government in 2001 to improve the availability, capacity and effectiveness of treatment for drug misuse in England.
The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) was introduced from April 2001 and collects data on drug users presenting for treatment as well as those in treatment. The NDTMS is a key source of information for monitoring the numbers in treatment for the Government’s drug strategy.
This published research has been completed by the National Drug Evidence Centre at The University of Manchester using anonymised data from the NDTMS and the Police National Computer.
For further information contact:
Yvonne Lloyd
NTA Senior Communications Officer
Tel: 0207 261 8635
Email: yvonne.lloyd@nta-nhs.org.uk
Or Aeron Haworth
Media Officer
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 8383
Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk