UK is Europe's 'addictions capital', says think tank

[davieG]

The UK has become the drug and alcohol "addictions capital of Europe", a think tank has warned.

The Centre for Social Justice - set up by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith - said drink and drug abuse cost the UK £36bn a year.

Its report warned that the UK has become a hub for websites peddling potentially dangerous "legal highs".

The CSJ also criticised the government for failing to tackle heroin addiction and cheaply available alcohol.

The report, No Quick Fix, found that last year 52 people in England and Wales died after taking legal highs, up from 28 the previous year.

The substances, sometimes referred to as club drugs and including Salvia and Green Rolex, are often marketed as bath salts or research chemicals.

But the drugs can be sold legally as long as they are clearly marked "not for human consumption", but have been known to cause permanent bladder damage, blood poisoning and death.

According to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), there are now more than 130 UK-registered websites selling the products cheaply by mail order - making postal service workers unwitting drug mules.

'Faster bans needed'

The think tank said one in 12 young people in the UK admitted to having taken legal highs - the highest figure in Europe.

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Much more needs to be done to tackle the root causes of addiction so that people have a better chance of breaking free.”

Noreen OliverChairwoman, CSJ review

It said a faster system of prohibition was needed to deal with legal highs, as 150 new substances have come on to the market in the last three years, while the government has managed to ban just 15 in the same period.

The report also attacked a failure to offer heroin addicts effective treatment.

A Freedom of Information inquiry found that 55% of councils in England have had funding for residential treatment cut since the coalition came to power, despite Prime Minister David Cameron pushing for more residential programmes.

North/South divide

The report said that almost a third of people in England on drug-substitute prescriptions such as methadone have been on them for four or more years, and one in 25 for more than 10 years.

The CSJ found alcohol dependence among British men was second in western Europe and seventh overall, while alcohol dependence among women is higher in the UK than anywhere in Europe.

One in four adults in England drank to harmful levels, and one in 20 were "dependent drinkers", it said.

The report also found a stark north-south divide in the problem of alcohol abuse, with 26 of the 30 local authorities with the highest rate of alcohol-related admissions in the north of the country.

The CSJ said the government had recognised the dangers of excessive drinking, but criticised its failure to tackle cheap alcohol through minimum unit pricing or a "treatment tax", with revenue put into treatment for addicts.

'Faster on its feet'

Noreen Oliver, chairwoman of the CSJ review, said: "Despite some slow progress in this last three years, much more needs to be done to tackle the root causes of addiction so that people have a better chance of breaking free.

"Alcohol is taking an increasing toll across all services in the UK and new emerging drugs are causing more harm - all the while funding to rehabilitation centres is being dramatically cut and methadone prescribing is being protected."

Crime Prevention Minister Jeremy Browne said the government took the threat of legal highs seriously, describing them as "highs which should not be assumed to be either safe or legal".

"Our Forensic Early Warning System enables us to closely monitor their availability, so we can target activity to reduce demand and supply.

"We are banning whole groups of substances rather than individual drugs and have introduced temporary drug orders which allow us to place harmful substances under control - protecting the public while giving time to our independent experts to prepare more detailed advice."

[Zingari]

Is the UK the European capital of everything shite?

[The God Emperor]

more prohibition? what can possibly go wrong

[Webbo]

Is the UK the European capital of everything shite?

We have got the prettiest flag though.

[Zingari]

We have got the prettiest flag though.

Do we ever win good stuff like the eurovision song contest though ? Do we boogery !!

Oh yes we win European titles like fatty capital, dumbass capital, binge drinker capital with no effort at all .

 

I suppose the flag is kinda cute though. 

[lavrentis]

Never taken Salvia and never want to, that shit looks deadly

[MooseBreath]

The article starts by saying that the UK is the addictions capital of Europe but then goes on about legal highs and we never get an explanation around the whole addictions capital thing. So I'm confused. Do we really have more drug addicts than any other EU country? I would be surprised if that is the case.

[ADK]

I'm not sure what to make of it really. I do think it's sad the amount of people who see drugs as their only way of enjoying themselves. But we can't really agree on what we want to do about it or whether we really want to do anything about it.

 

I consider myself a Liberal so the default position would be to say it is the responsibility of the individual, but that people should be fully educated about the dangers of drugs and that advertising should be banned. Also duty should be added to cover the cost of any costs to the NHS or other agencies.

 

However in the case of very harmful drugs I think I would personally support them being kept illegal.

[Rincewind]

Strange. I was looking at my whats Brewing magazine from CAMRA. The headline says if everyone drinks an extra pint a month it will save a pub from closing.

[MooseBreath]

Strange. I was looking at my whats Brewing magazine from CAMRA. The headline says if everyone drinks an extra pint a month it will save a pub from closing.

Finally, a moral crusade we can all get on board with

[Carl the Llama]

"Faster bans needed". How about "faster legalisation of the relatively harmless substance that the legal highs which we know nothing about the effects of are imitating, preventing the creation of these dodgy substances in the first place"? 

[Vacamion]

[Jon the Hat]

Strange. I was looking at my whats Brewing magazine from CAMRA. The headline says if everyone drinks an extra pint a month it will save a pub from closing.

They might want to stipulate that we drink it in a pub. Shit pubs deserve to close.

[BoneDog]

CRACK IS WACK. HOLLA

 

I once knew a couple of lads about 12 years ago who sat at home and smoked crack for a whole weekend and had to go hospital because their ankles swelled up like footballs. F*&k knows what happened there the silly buggers.

[Leicfox]

Kick Scotland out of the UK. Problem solved.

[Rincewind]

They might want to stipulate that we drink it in a pub. Shit pubs deserve to close.

they did