Drug and alcohol policy under New Labour: Pandering to populism? (original) (raw)
Related papers
Lessons for the Coalition: an end of term report on New Labour and criminal justice
2011
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.
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.
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
Over the last three decades there have been radical changes in social, health and welfare service provision in the United Kingdom that have been attributed to the influence of neo-liberalism on social policy and practice. These include measures to improve efficiency and cut costs through reducing public sector involvement in health and welfare; creating a competitive market amongst statutory and non-statutory service providers; a move to a more responsive ‘consumer led’ or ‘demand driven’ system of health and welfare provision and a promotion of the ethos of individual responsibility. This study will look at the effect of neo-liberal policy and thinking on the provision of health and welfare services with particular reference to drug users. It will begin with a brief description of the historical basis of neo-liberalism, and an overview of its core principles. There will then follow a critical discussion of the effects this has on the provision of health and welfare services in this country, how its influence has affected historical and contemporary British Drug Policy and what the implications of this are for problematic drug users.
UK General Election 2017: Where do the parties stand on drug policy
Global Drug Policy Observatory: Situation Analysis , 2017
On the 8th June, the United Kingdom goes to the polls for a second general election in under two years. Following the EU referendum last June, the issue of Brexit continues to dominate the campaign discourse, with security also front and centre since the recent terrorist attacks in London and Manchester. Important - yet less eye-catching - issues have taken a back seat in the campaign, including the issue of drugs policy. That said, most of the major national parties have included some kind of manifesto pledge regarding their approach to illicit drug markets, and an evaluation of the differing positions is therefore warranted. This Situation Analysis has crawled the 2015 and 2017 manifesto pledges of all of the major national parties, and presents an evaluative summary of the explicit and implicit policy pledges, and direction of policy travel, of each.
No Quick Fix: Exposing the depth of Britain's drugs and alcohol problem
2013
This report lays bare the reality of substance abuse and addiction in Britain today. This ongoing challenge affects millions of people and has huge costs. Alcohol abuse costs taxpayers £21 billion a year and drugs £15 billion. While costs matter, it is the human consequences that present the real tragedy. The abuse of substances is a pathway to poverty and can lead to family breakdown and child neglect, homelessness, crime, debt, and long-term worklessness. From its impact on children to its consequences for those in later life, addiction destroys lives, wrecks families and blights communities. The scale of the problem is shocking. 1.6 million people are dependent on alcohol in England alone. One in seven children under the age of one live with a substance-abusing parent, and more than one in five (2.6 million) live with a parent who drinks hazardously. 335,000 (one in 37) children live with a parent who is addicted to drugs. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has been encouraged by some of the commitments contained within the Drug Strategy 2010 and by the efforts of some reformers within government. The move to a recovery-oriented system is an important step to ensuring that harm reduction is only the first step along a path to abstinence and full recovery. Challenges persist, however, as many vested interests remain entrenched within the treatment system. Supporters of substitute treatment remain unconvinced by the possibilities of full- and long-term recovery, and are resistant to reform. Alarmingly, some commissioners are withdrawing support for effective services. The CSJ has learned that 55 per cent of local authorities have cut funding to residential rehabilitation centres whilst harm reduction services that maintain people in their addiction have been preserved under the NHS ring-fence. These rehabilitation centres, which the Prime Minister has rightly backed in the past, have proved time and again to be an effective way of breaking the cycle of addiction and must be supported. In this report, we also highlight the system’s lack of ambition to tackle alcohol abuse, despite its rising cost. While two-thirds of the 300,000 drug addicts in England get treatment, only a small minority (approximately seven per cent) alcohol dependants get similar help. Furthermore, by withdrawing its plans for a minimum unit price, the Government has missed an opportunity to tackle the increased availability of super cheap, strong alcohol. Parents and children, together with addicts and taxpayers, are calling for action. In this report we outline the challenges; in the coming year the CSJ will publish policy recommendations to help solve Britain’s drug and alcohol crisis.