Communications and campaigns

Key Messages for National Tackling Drugs Week

Below are the key messages for National Tackling Drugs Week

Key Messages

• Local agencies are working effectively to tackle drugs and reduce drug-related crime in your area
• Tangible improvements are being made in communities across the country
• Police foreces are cracking down on drug-related crime; crack houses and cannabis factories are being closed
• Police are seizing more dealers' cash and assets on arrest and re-investing proceeds into the community
• Local police-led drug enforcement campaigns such as 'Rat on a Rat' are maximising community intelligence, identifying drug dealers and disrupting markets
• 5th anniversary of the FRANK campaign
• Neighbourhood policing teams are working to ensure that community concerns about drugs are reported and acted upon
• Policing of Class A drugs continues to rise.  The total number of drug offenders convicted of producing or dealing cocaine, crack or heroin rose by 6% between 2003 and 2004.  Over 80% of them received an immediate custodial sentence.
• Supply of Class A drugs is being taken out at the highest level through the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA)
• Information is being offered to parents, familieis and schools on the dangers of drug misuse
• The numbers of drugs users entering treatment continues to rise
• Treatment is increasingly tailored closely to individual needs, including those of people with complex needs, such as mental health problems
• The Drug Interventions Programme is contributing to a reduction in drug-related crime in the local area.  Since the onset of DIP (the 12 months to March 2003) recorded acquisitive crime - to which drug-related crime makes a significant contribution - has fallen by around 20%