Drug strategy

Further guidance

A range of guidance and information on engaging communities and on tackling the supply of drugs is available, demonstrating the importance of effective partnerships and community engagement.

Existing guidance on engaging communities in action to tackle drugs can be found in the Crime Reduction Toolkits (new window) and the Tackling drugs as part of neighbourhood renewal guide. An updated version of this guidance will be available in summer 2009. Further resources include:

Guidance and resources

• Legal highs police fact card
• Implementing Integrated Drugs Market Reductive Initiatives (IDMRI) guide for practitioners May 2009
• Evidence Led Solutions (ELS) final report June 2008
• Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003: Notes of Guidance
• Summary of Responses to Government's Consultation on Section 2 of the Drugs Act 2005
• Disrupting Crack Markets: A Practice Guide
• MORI confidence / perceptions presentation
• Communicating for Confidence  (new window)- guidance on how to use communications to improve community confidence and reduce perceptions of drug use and dealing and other types of anti-social behaviour
• Guidance on policing cannabis possession for personal use (new window)
• Guidance on policing commercial cannabis cultivation and headshops (new window)
• European Action on Drugs (EAD) - a guide to how you or your organisation can take part in a broad range of network activities

Effective Practice

• Practice case studies, April 2009 - The aim of these documents is to share practice through 27 case studies on local projects focusing on social reintegration, community engagement, integrated offender management and family-based intervention/assistance for drug-misusing parents and their children – compiled by DrugScope in 2008/2009.
• Practice case studies, December 2008
• The Tackling Drug Supply Award Winners 2006
• The Tackling Drug Supply Award Winners 2005
• The Tackling Drug Supply Awards winners 2004: A review
• The Tackling Drug Supply Awards winners 2004: Effective Partnerships

Films

A short film about a drugs raid (new window) is available on the Home Office YouTube channel (new window). This film features a successful operation which brought the police and local community together to combat drug dealing and the associated criminality. Operation Blister demonstrates key elements that are crucial to successfully tackling drugs at a local level:

• community consultation and involvement
• multi-agency working
• intelligence-led policing and acting on community intelligence
• a consolidation plan to ensure the benefits of tackling supply locally are not eroded over time