Lessons for the Coalition: an end of term report on New Labour and criminal justice (original) (raw)

Coming to power with an overwhelming majority in 1997, New Labour had the opportunity to lead the world by adopting a much needed progressive, pragmatic and scientifically informed approach to the management of substance use and misuse in the twenty-first century: by some distance, they failed to deliver on the election promise of change. Instead, they mistakenly continued the pursuit of eradicating drugs through prohibition, perpetuated the misleading distinction between legal and illegal drugs, and failed to overhaul the much criticised and outdatedMisuse of Drugs Act 1971, which continues to inform (or some would argue misinform) the public about the risks of drugs. However, to their credit New Labour did significantly invest in treatment, although the benefits of coercive treatment locked into the criminal justice system are debatable and has contributed to the rise in the prison population. Another important contribution was replacing the medical approach dominated by health agencies with a more holistic, inter-agency collaborative approach. These are relatively superficial changes when a fundamental overhaul of drug law and drug policy was required. The UK now needs to look to countries like Portugal and Switzerland for more effective, scientifically informed drug policies.

Drug and alcohol policy under New Labour: Pandering to populism?

New Labour achieved a landslide victory on a 'promise of change', but their drug law and policies offered little change. Instead, they continued the failed 'war on drugs' adopted by the previous Conservative government by further enmeshing treatment within the criminal justice system and attacking civil liberties under the Drugs Act 2005. Not surprisingly this has resulted in a significant increase in the prison population. Buchanan, J. (2011) Drug and alcohol policy under New Labour: Pandering to populism? in Arianna Silvestri (editor) Lessons for the Coalition? New Labour and criminal justice: an end of term report, Hadley Trust, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, London download: www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/opus1830/end\_of\_term\_report.pdf

UK Drug Policy

The Politics of Drugs

During the New Labour years (1997-2010), significant redirection of drugs policy took place, especially in the area of treatment: new institutions and policies were developed under the guidance of the National Treatment Agency. However in 2010, when the Coalition (Conservative and Liberal Democrat) government was formed, with its goal to prioritise 'recovery', there were still an estimated 400,000 problematic heroin and crack cocaine users in the UK. The consensus then among drug treatment experts was that the priority should be to build on what had been achieved but develop better links between different health, social care and other services to support recovery. The new direction of policy towards recovery was accepted but the challenges had to be recognised: many of the people who were using drug services arrived at the door with multiple problems and needs. Often their drug use was linked to experiences of childhood abuse or adult trauma, to mental health problems, homelessness, family breakdown and other problems. 1 Under Coalition and Conservative administrations since, the emphasis in drug treatment policy has been on 'recovery' but the wider context has

The recent evolution of UK drug strategies: from maintenance to behaviour change

Politically, the idea that certain kinds of drugs and drug use are intrinsically linked to certain kinds of criminality – known as the drugs-crime nexus-enjoys continuing salience. This shows little sign of abating. Since 1995, successive strategies have embraced this theme and policies have been developed to try and increase the numbers of drug users entering treatment in a bid to drive down crime rates. Drawing on a review of the relevant literature and an analysis of successive drug strategies and related policy documents, this paper argues that although contemporary drug policy is still underpinned by such notions the suggested means by which crime rates are to be reduced is gradually shifting. Since 2008, there has been a notable change in rhetoric with an increasing use of conditionality in the benefits system coupled with an overt desire to 'nudge' those engaging in risky behaviours to amend their ways. This seems to be related to a steady disillusionment with methadone maintenance treatment and a desire to solve the drug-crime problem by promoting the goal of 'abstinence'. More recently, abstinence has been replaced by the less well-defined term 'recovery', but both signal a desire for drug treatment to move away from maintenance. This paper argues that such developments are part of a creeping moralisation that has re-emerged in UK social policy over recent decades.

The Good, the Bad and the Vague. Assessing emerging Conservative Drugs Policy

New Labour came to power promising to offer a new, evidence based approach towards drug policy. However, despite early promise, the latter years of the Labour government descended towards tabloid led criminal justice populism. During the same period, the Conservative opposition often gave contradictory messages on policy, although they increasingly appeared to veer towards a hard-line, abstinence based approach. In power they have moved quickly to produce a drugs strategy that promises a move towards a 'recovery' agenda. This article reviews and evaluates the evolving Conservative Party policies on drugs misuse and explores whether the strategy lives up to its ambitious rhetoric and its stated aim to follow evidence based policies. It finds a mixture of laudable aims; vague and sometimes contradictory statements; proposals that are unsupported, and sometimes contraindicated, by evidence; and policy goals that are often at risk of being undermined by a wider policy agenda that threatens to marginalize people with drug problems still further.

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