Abstract (Summary)

Fight smart in the war on drugs
Tim Hollis.Sunday Times.London (UK):Aug 3, 2008. pg. 21

Abstract (Summary)

A report released last week by the UK Drug Policy Commission made grim reading: it claimed that traditional methods of fighting an illicit drugs industry worth an estimated Pounds 5.3 billion - and that's just in the UK - are having little effect. Combine that with the fact that we have Europe's highest proportion of problem drug users within the adult population and you have a very depressing picture indeed.

There is no doubt that the illegal drugs trade presents a serious challenge to policing. In fact, police enforcement methods alone - drugs raids, stop and search and so on - take us only so far. That's why I'm in favour of what I call smarter enforcement - involving more intelligence, more research and more dialogue.

That doesn't mean we should ignore the softer, so-called "gateway" drugs such as cannabis. I fervently believe that because of its detrimental effect on mental health - particularly that of young people - cannabis should be reclassified as a class B drug. When it comes to smashing the supply chain, we need to target those who are involved in the manufacturing of cannabis - these days a massive enterprise that requires significant financial capital and forms the mainstay of the drug market. By using intelligence to infiltrate organised crime networks, we can also start to understand the market better and identify the supply and demand hotspots.

Full Text(819 words)

Tim Hollis, a chief constable, calls for a fresh strategy

Why do the police appear to be having such a limited impact? After more than 30 years on the front line against drugs, and from my vantage point as chief constable of Humberside police and chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers' drugs committee, I have come to certain conclusions about what we need to do to improve our drugs record.

The government has already identified the three central pillars upon which drug strategy should be constructed: prevention (including drugs education), enforcement and treatment of addicts. On their own, however, these strategies have little effect. Combined, they can be far more potent. That's why ministers need to create a coherent framework to implement the strategies - and this needs to happen at the very top level of the government.

It's no good having the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families each responsible for a separate section of the strategy, as they are now. All the different elements must be brought together to ensure that policy is devised and implemented in a coherent fashion. Health and drug rehabilitation specialists need to be in constant dialogue with police, prison officials, customs officers and even schools to ensure that the drug problem is tackled from every possible angle. More research must be done to identify the reasons behind drug use in certain groups and communities - until we know more, we cannot target our responses effectively.

Crucially, any new initiative needs solid financial support if it is going to work. It's no good if the government backs such a scheme, only to withdraw funding after two or three years. One way of freeing up much-needed cash is to divert funds away from the prosecution of small-time users - indeed, once young people enter the criminal justice system, there is strong evidence to suggest that their risk of descent into serious drug use is greatly increased.

Next, rather than targeting street-level dealers, or those a few rungs up the ladder, we need to take out the bosses at the top. One way to really hurt them is to start removing their pension funds - the houses, cash and expensive cars that they come to rely on when they retire from the drugs industry. Confiscation is a difficult operation, requiring extensive governmental and judicial support, but one that may prove to be a key weapon in the fight against the distribution of illegal drugs.

We must also be proactive about other challenges that are coming our way. It is vital to communicate with our counterparts across the world and learn from their successes and failures. America, for instance, now has significant levels of methamphetamine abuse. Although this drug doesn't yet seem to have become a serious problem in the UK, we are working to pre-empt its arrival and issuing guidelines to officers about how to deal with this potential threat.

Finally, it is essential for police to gain the trust of communities so they will be encouraged to inform on the dealers in their midst. This can be done only if we have a constant police presence in problem areas, because nobody will talk if they live in fear of reprisals. That's where organisations such as Crimestoppers - which encourages individuals to give evidence anonymously - prove crucial.

Above all, people need to start believing that the police can be effective in tackling drugs crime.

Tim Hollis was speaking to Alexandra Goss

Indexing (document details)

People: / Hollis, Tim
Author(s): / Tim Hollis
Document types: / Commentary
Section: / Features
Publication title: / Sunday Times.London (UK):Aug 3, 2008. pg. 21
Source type: / Newspaper
ISSN: / 09561382
ProQuest document ID: / 1524718221
Text Word Count / 819
Document URL: / ientId=13118&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Title:

5 STEPS TO...

Authors:

Allen, Kate

Source:

Regeneration & Renewal; 5/2/2008, p24-24, 1/3p

Document Type:

Article

Subject Terms:

*COOPERATION
DRUG abuse
DRUG traffic
COMMUNITY support
SOCIAL interaction

Abstract:

The article provides steps on how to counter the problem concerning public drug use. It includes building contacts with residents through establishing a strong community relationship. Another is helping drug abusers to address their problem by investing in drug and addiction services. It also includes giving information to drug enforcers about illegal distribution of drugs in the area.

ISSN:

1472-5053

Accession Number:

31953776

Database:

Business Source Complete

IN PRACTICE

5Stepsto...tacklingclrugusep24

Lots of staff boosts sports take up p24

Bonds fund housing and charities p25

Tips from a transport campaigner p26

Career development news p26

Conferences and course listings p26

5 STEPS TO...

...tacklingpublic

drug use

1Develop a strategar for the whole area.Avoid solutions

thai merely shift the problem, warns Danny

Kushlick, director uf campaign group ihe Transform

Drug Policy Foundation: tactics such as exclusion

zones can push the problem lo nearby streets.

"You have to think about a wider area than just the

park or square in which the problem exists," he says.

2Build contacts with residents. Effective action

requires strong community relationships,says

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner

Sieve House. He suggests using Safer Neighbourhoods

partnerships to develop local contacts."Intelligence

from community engagement is essential in

identifying those networks causing the greatest harm

and successfully disrupting them," he adds.

3Share information with police partners essential

in enforcement work. "We aim to combat drugs

being openly sold on London's streets by arresting

[suppliers] and developing community intelligcnec

to build a picture of drugs supply," says House.

4Reduce the impact of public drug use. Lighting.

CCrv. ¡inEi-burglai-y initiatives, landscaping and

the involvement of local pharmacies can cut

drug crime. It is also vital to keep areas clear of used

needles, particularly in parks where children play.

"Litter bins and dedicated "sin bins" for needles are a

simple way of mitigating the impact," says Kushlick.

5Offer heip to drug users.Invest in drug and addiction

services, and help people address their

problems by assisting them with housing,

health, skills and employment issues. "A lot of the

people using drugs publicly are homeless," says

Kushlick. "Ifyou want to tackle the drug use you

have to help them to change their whole lives."

• IVIore information A good practice guide. Regeneration

Partnership.^ and Drug Partnerships: Working

Together to Challenge the Harms Caused by Problemaíic

Drug Use is available at a

government factsheet. Drugs and Neighbourhood

Renewal, is available at

displaypagedoc.asp?id-146

Kate Alien

EVALUATION LESSONS

Healthy living: the Community Sports Initiative is achieving good results in Northern Ireiand

Investment in staff pays off

BACKGROUND

Project Community Sports Initiative-

Period of evaluation 2005 to 2008.

Evaluating organisation Hall Aitken.

Evaluation commissioned by The Big Lottery Fund.

Aims and outline of project The Big Lottery Fund's Community Sport Initiative (CSI) funds 288

projects across Northern Ireiand, Scotland and Wales that aim to increase physical activity among

young women, disabled people and ethnic minority communities. This report iocuses on the Community

Sports and Active Lifestyles programmes in Northern Ireiand, the Active Future programme

in Scotland and the Mentro Allen programme in Wales.

KEYLESSONS

Brendan Tapiey writes: Whiie each country has seen positive outcomes, the

Community Sports and Active Lifestyles programmes in Northern Ireland provide the

most obvious lesson for future sports initiatives. Specifically, the Northern Ireland

programmes focus on providing high numbers of coaches and sports development

officers; this, the report notes, probably accounts for the high levels of participation

V in the projects by people from targeted groups.

All funded projects are attracting previously inactive people; however, the Community Sports

and Active Lifestyles programmes have been the most effective. For example, the Active Lifestyles

programme attracts the highest percentage of participants who are new to sport (50 per cent)

among all the CSI programmes. Similarly, projects across both Northern Irish strands appear to

engage a higher percentage of participants from deprived communities than the other programmes:

around 75 per cent for Community Sports, and over 50 per cent for Active Lifestyles.

The research also highlights a number of common problems across the countries. For instance,

most initiatives experienced initial setting-up problems; targeting and attracting participants

proved particularly problematic. There is room for improvement in involving participants in planning

and decision-making, and there were also difficulties in collecting appropriate data.

Although the report notes that many lessons from the Community Sports Initiative are still

emerging, it is clear that the programmes in Northern Ireland are achieving particularly good

results. The evaluation suggests that this is a direct result of the Northern Ireland programme's

greater investment in coaches and sports development officers. Facilities are important it seems,

but at the end of the day you can't beat manpower,

• Brendan Tapiey is a senior sustainabitityano regeneration consultatit at URS.

• The Evaluation of the Community Sport Initiative is available via

professionals? If so, contact Adam Branson on

Regeneration s Renewal i 2 May 2008

The Outreach Assisted Peer-Support Model for Controlling Drug Dependency.

Authors:

Levy, Judith A.1
Gallmeier, Chuck P.2
Wiebel, W. Wayne3,4

Source:

Journal of Drug Issues; Summer95, Vol. 25 Issue 3, p507-529, 23p

Document Type:

Article

Subject Terms:

*DRUG addicts
*OUTREACH programs
*SOCIAL support
*INTERPERSONAL relations
*DRUG abuse -- Prevention
*SUBSTANCE abuse
PEER counseling
PEER mediation

Geographic Terms:

CHICAGO (Ill.)
ILLINOIS

Abstract:

This article examines the outreach-assisted peer-support (OAPS) model of group interaction as an innovative strategy to help active street addicts control, reduce, or stop their use of drugs. The OAPS model targets active street addicts who are not in treatment and who may elect to continue drug use while participating in an OAPS group. Community-outreach and network sampling methods were used to recruit active heroin and cocaine users. One hundred street addicts were invited to participate voluntarily in outreach staff-assisted, peer-support groups sessions held at two community-based sites in Chicago. Data are drawn from regular indepth interviews, ethnographic reports, and transcribed tapes of OAPS sessions. The analysis focuses on the social processes through which peers help peers to stop, control, or reduce the harm of using illegal drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Drug Issues is the property of Florida State University / School of Criminology & Criminal Justice and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts)

Author Affiliations:

1Associate Professor of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of Illinois, Chicago
2Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Indiana University, North West
3Associate Professor of Epidemiology, University of Illinois, Chicago, School of Public Health
4Director, Community Outreach Intervention Program

Full Text Word Count:

11491

ISSN:

00220426

Accession Number:

9509234050

Database:

SocINDEX with Full Text

The Outreach Assisted Peer-Support Model for Controlling Drug Dependency

Introduction

The limited number of treatment slots available nationally pose a major barrier to recovery among street drug addicts who want to leave "the life." Moreover, those who successfully access formal treatment typically return to the same drug-using social networks and life pressures following discharge that encouraged their habit. Because of these forces, drug-dependent individuals can benefit from formal support in stopping or reducing drug use while managing their own recovery, awaiting formal treatment, or as adjunct or follow-up to conventional care. This paper examines an outreach-assisted peer-support (nAPS) model of group interaction as an innovative strategy to help active street addicts control, reduce, or stop their use of drugs. The model was developed and evaluated as part of a research-demonstration project to assess the efficacy of providing community-based social support to reduce or stop harmful drug use and curb human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission.( n1) The model targets active, drug-dependent individuals not in formal drug treatment.

The Outreach-Assisted Peer-Support Model

The concept of using peer-support groups to combat addiction is far from new (Nurco et al. 1983; Denzin 1987, 1989; Skoll 1992). While such groups are organized differently (Young and Williams 1988), all subscribe to the positive values of nonhierarchical group participation, motivation through self-empowerment, and a reaffirmation of traditional values. In addition, they operate on the belief that social network ties strongly influence successful coping with serious problems and other contingencies. Further, they perceive that social support is most useful when what is offered fits what is needed (Cohen and McKay 1984). When seen from this perspective, persons who are drug dependent know best what they and their peers need.

Among self-help groups, the OAPS model is unique in targeting active street addicts who are not in treatment and who openly may elect to continue drug use while participating in an OAPS group. Participants join an OAPS group to gain better control over their drug use and, in doing so, reduce its harm to self and others. Four philosophical policies govern OAPS group membership and participation.

First, attendance at support group meetings is voluntary and not court-ordered or treatment-mandated as is common with more conventional support groups. Outreach staff, who are indigenous to the community and former addicts themselves, recruit participants. Members elect to attend group meetings daily or weekly without penalty for missing sessions. The groups meet in a community setting for approximately 2 hours per session and light refreshments are served to encourage conviviality. Often mothers attend with infants and preschool children in tow.