Homing in on drugs abuse

Drugs misuse in the late 1990s is on the increase. Government figures show that two in five 16 year olds have tried drugs at least once and drug taking is most common amongst people in their teens and early 20s.

The government White Paper Tackling drugs to build a better Britain suggests that central and local government alone are spending over £1 billion a year trying to tackle the drugs problem, yet the number of addicts is going up and availability and drug taking is on the increase. There are strong links between drugs problems and unemployment, homelessness, prostitution and other features of social exclusion.

The White Paper has therefore sought to take a new approach, for the first time acknowledging the link between drug usage and social conditions and by taking a co-ordinated approach to policy making through the appointment of a drugs 'czar' and the work of the Social Exclusion Unit by looking at causes, prevention and education and training, as well as enforcement action. Helping drug misusing offenders to tackle their drugs problems and become better integrated into society also has a significant impact on levels of crime.

A key part of the government's new agenda involves giving local government a key role in joining up action locally through its statutory partnership duty for community safety and presence on drug action teams and youth offending teams. The Local Government Association has an established drugs forum which has developed a co-ordinated strategy for implementing the government's proposals through a multi-departmental approach and has challenged service departments to consider the role they need to play in tackling drugs.

What role can housing play in addressing the complex issue of drugs and substance misuse amongst their communities? Liverpool and other authorities have recognised that we need to make a realistic assessment and acknowledge that there is a wide variety of people requiring homes. We also need to understand their related needs and lifestyles if we are to tackle social exclusion and protect the individual and the wider community.

At the LGA we have this week produced a national statement to help local authorities adopt a common purpose and co-ordinated approach and ensure that housing authorities work closely with health authorities and social services to identify any problems and determine the exact housing needs of the individual, including their health requirements.

It is important for the housing management service to get involved in supporting other agencies to assist drug misusers and to adopt policies that do not 'exclude' drug and substance misusers if they are receptive to treatment. Equality of treatment and equality of opportunity to obtain housing should be given to substance misusers with clear statements in tenancy conditions about what is acceptable, for example, that unacceptable criminal or anti-social behaviour may result in loss of home.

It is estimated that over half the homeless population uses drugs regularly yet there is growing evidence that treatment can be effective when combined with a stable home. Often housing managers are the 'front line' service for people living in their communities and they must be equipped with adequate knowledge, training and an understanding of the help and support that can be offered by other agencies if tenancies are going to be sustained.

Tenants and community groups can play an important role in raising education and awareness on drug and substance misuse but this must be combined with a clear commitment by the authority in its community safety role that appropriate action will be taken to protect the community where serious anti-social behaviour is caused by drug dealing from council premises, for example.

In the foreseeable future, drugs misuse is likely to be a key feature of our society. Housing authorities can play a vital role in sustaining communities through adopting an inclusive approach which is shared by the community. Social exclusion will need to be tackled as a multi-agency approach which looks at prevention as well as enforcement action through education and information to reduce drugs usage by future generations.