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Drugs: Misuse

Answer

[holding answer 31 January 2011]: The Home Office has undertaken a number of research and analytical projects in recent years into the harms caused by drugs.The Department developed the drug harm index (DHI) in 2005 to measure the harms generated by illegal drug use in order to measure progress against a previous public service agreement target. This combined national indicators of various drug-related harms including those related to drug-related crime, community perceptions of drug problems, drug nuisance, and the various health consequences that arise from drug abuse (e.g. HIV, overdoses, deaths etc.) into a single figure time-series index. Results from the DHI were published for the period 2002 (the baseline year) to 2006.The Home Office has produced an estimate of the social and economic costs of Class A drug use for the reference year 2003-04 taking into account a range of quantifiable harms. This was published in 2006.More recently the Home Office undertook a national evaluation of drug treatment in England which found that drug treatment is effective in reducing the harms associated with problem drug use. This was published in 2009. Additionally, in 2010, the Home Office published research on the perceptions of the social harms associated with use of khat.(ii) The Home Office has not undertaken or evaluated any research into any harm caused by the criminalisation of drugs."References:""Macdonald, Z. et al (2005) 'Measuring the harm from illegal drugs using the Drug Harm Index' Home Office Online Report 24/05.""http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/rdsolr2405.pdf""Singleton, N. et al (2006) 'Measuring different aspects of problem drug use: methodological developments' Home Office Online Report 16/06.""http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/rdsolr1606.pdf""Donmall, M et al (2009) 'Summary of key findings from the Drug Treatment Outcomes Research Study (DTORS)' Home Office Research Report 23.""http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/horr23.pdf""Crime and Drugs Analysis and Research Programme (2009) 'Measuring the harm from illegal drugs: a summary of the Drug Harm Index 2006.' Home Office Research Report 13.""http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/horr13.pdf""Sykes, W et al (2010) 'Perceptions of the social harms associated with khat use' Home Office Research Report 44.""http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/horr44c.pdf"

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

36867; 522 c686-7W

Session

2010-12

Related items

Drugs: Misuse
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Written questions
House of Commons

Subjects

Drugs Misuse

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk