Drugs policy in Britain has historically had two facets:
- a health-centred approach to the health harms resulting from drug misuse,and
- a drive against drug-related offending through the criminal justice system.
Each approach has always been seen as important but has at different times been given different priorities. At present, for all the money that has recently gone into providing treatment, the criminal-justice approach is firmly in the ascendant.
The four strands of the English drug strategy as currently set out on the Home Office’s ‘Tackling Drugs, Changing Lives’ website are:
- reducing the supply of illegal drugs;
- preventing young people from becoming drug misusers;
- reducing drug-related crime; and
- reducing the use of drugs through increased participation in treatment programmes.
These strands coincide broadly with the three objectives set out in the Public Service Agreement addressed specifically towards ‘Action on Illegal Drugs’.