20 August 2010
The government is considering cutting benefits for people with drugs and alcohol treatment who refuse treatment.
The suggestion was made in a Home Office consultation document, Drugsstrategy 2010, released today. The document said that the Department for Work and Pensions will lead on ‘supporting recovery to break the cycle of drug addiction’.
The consultation asked ‘should we be making more of the potential to use the benefit system’ through ‘some form of financial benefit sanction, if they do not take action to address their drug or alcohol dependency’ or offer ‘additional support to take such steps, by tailoring the requirements placed upon them as a condition of benefit receipt’.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The government is determined
to prevent drug use and strengthen enforcement against supply.
‘That's why we are asking experts for their views on a range of issues so that
users are strongly encouraged to address their dependency. We will carefully
consider responses before launching the government's new drug strategy later
this year.’
But the chief executive of the drugs charity Addaction, Simon Antrobus, warned this will not help people coming off addiction.
‘Getting more people into treatment is always a good thing, but attempting to force them into that process by taking away their benefits would be a mistake.
‘The people Addaction help will tell you how coming off drugs or alcohol is extremely difficult, and how deciding to access treatment took them a very long time. Remove financial stability during that time, and you can severely damage someone’s chances of beating an addiction. More likely, you could increase their chances of turning to crime to find an alternative income.’
However, minister for crime prevention James Brokenshire said: ‘The drugs market is changing and we need to adapt current laws to allow us to act more quickly.
‘The temporary ban allows us to act straight away to stop new substances gaining a foothold in the market and help us tackle unscrupulous drug dealers trying to get round the law by peddling dangerous chemicals to young people.’
