APCC PUBLISH DEEP DIVE REVIEW ON DELIVERING THE NATIONAL DRUGS STRATEGY VIA COMBATING DRUGS PARTNERSHIPS
Today the findings of an APCC Deep Dive Review into the experiences of PCCs and other policing partners of their local Combating Drugs Partnerships (CDPs) and similar partnerships in Wales, have been published and shows the key role that PCCs are playing in implementing the drug strategy and cutting drug relating crime.
Launching the report, APCC Addictions & Substance Misuse Leads, Durham PCC Joy Allen and Dorset PCC David Sidwick said:
“We are delighted to be publishing the findings of the Review and are grateful to our PCC colleagues who have contributed to this research.
“Many of the findings of the Deep Dive echo those of a report on the ten-year drug strategy published by the House of Common’s Public Affairs Committee (PAC) last week, which we also welcome. This emphasised that if CDPs are to sustain the momentum they have built up they need greater certainty on funding beyond March 2025. We also welcome the PAC report’s recognition of the importance of understanding local variations in order to implement the drug strategy effectively in different places, which was a key finding from our Deep Dive research too.
“The importance of understanding and responding to the needs of different cohorts is also a key theme for the PAC; this is particularly true for children and young adults.
“While the PAC report shows that we are making real progress in tackling drug-related harm, it highlights again our concern as PCCs about increasing drug use among young people – predominantly of illegal gateway drugs like cannabis and ketamine – and a shortage of treatment and support for them.
“The Government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is developing advice for ministers on how we deliver a whole system response to drug use and harm amongst 11–24-year-olds, which is due next month. This needs to provide a basis for a focussed and sustained drive to tackle young people’s misuse of drugs with the same energy that has quite rightly been devoted to opiates and crack cocaine – otherwise, alongside the harms being experienced today, we will have the same problems in the future. That’s why we’ve strongly supported the expansion of drug testing on arrest to Class B and C drugs under the Criminal Justice Bill and are currently expressing our concerns to Minister’s about plans to cut Home Office funding for testing. Our own research has found that one of the key roles that PCCs are playing locally is to ensure that the enforcement and prevention strands of the drug strategy are a focus alongside of treatment and recovery – this is critical for the long-term success of the Drug Strategy.”
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