Drug Legislation and the Governments Strategy to Shape Service Provisions - Essay Example

I have carried out a critical review of the drug legislation, relevant framework and how it shapes service provision, what follows is the evidence and critique of what I have found from studying the relevant legislation: Reflecting critically I can see that the government are under constant pressure from contextual influences, as well as members of the public, to provide relevant legislation that will protect the Country against drug related offences. Drug abuse is on the rise and alongside is drug related crime. Reflecting critically I can see that a plan was needed to fight the war on drugs and shape service provision. I believe that is why the government responded to the resounding pressure and in April 1998 the government ordered a ten year strategy for tackling drug misuse. The key objective of this strategy is to reduce the number of 25 year olds using illegal drugs in the last month and previous year. Due to contextual influences the government had to provide education about drug prevention as a service provision in prisons and schools across the Country. Books and literature about drug abuse would be provided freely. This was hoped to reduce drug abuse amongst young people and educate them about the dangers of drugs. The government had important objectives that they wanted to target as a result of contextual influences where drug abuse was present. The objectives the government hoped to achieve included; Reducing levels of repeat offending amongst drug offenders, increase participation of problematic drug abusers', include prisoners' in drug treatment programmes that have a positive impact on health and crime. They also wanted to reduce access to drugs amongst 5 - 16 year olds. The current legislative framework that shapes service provision is "The 2005 Drugs Act" that has a number of stated aims including the enhancement of Police and Court powers against drug offenders by the creation of a new presumption of intent to supply where a defendant is found to be in possession of a certain quantity of controlled drugs (http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs-laws/drug-act-2005/). This Act came into force on 1st January 2006. Reflecting critically I can see a problem with this framework, whilst it provides a legal statement for the police and court; it leaves an air of confusion where the issue of quantity is questioned. For example, how much of an illegal drug does a person need to be in possession of for it to be a criminal offence Legal frameworks must be clear to enable service provision to run smoothly and avoid criminals' taking advantage of them. "United States Office of National Drug Control Strategy" and "United Nations International Drug Control Programme." Explain that the world annual population prevalence rate for illegal drug use is around 3%-4%. World population totals for the use of heroin and cocaine are estimated at 8 and 13.3 million adults. (M, Ramsay and S Partridge) Explain that, In England and Wales, population survey data suggest that around 50% of people aged 16-29 have used an illegal drug on at least one occasion (with the majority having used cannabis) and approximately 1.2 million people aged 16-24 have consumed an illegal drug in the past month. Reflecting critically on this evidence, service provision must be shaped to combat the increasing numbers of drug abusers' in the world today. A critical analysis of these figures show that the world is facing a drug abuse epidemic if we don't act soon we won't have the facilities to cope. If service provision is not shaped to handle the contextual influences of growing drug problems then we have little chance of succeeding. The government have been forced to act and implement strategies to fight the growing drug problems. In hindsight the government could have done a lot more if they had acted sooner. We have to look at the contextual influences such as, warning signs without burying our heads in the sand; if we bury our heads in the sand then the problems get ignored, explode and become bigger. Service provisions need to be equipped to enable them to manage the drug problems. Contextual influences forced the government to prioritise drug abusers' that are causing the most harm to communities by putting them into treatment straight away. Reflecting critically I can see this is a good thing, but we need to have the facilities and the staff to be able to deal with the service users that are at a higher risk. As long as service provisions are prepared for those that are at a higher risk then we will be able to manage the drug problems. However, as the drug problems rise we need more service provisions and are desperately running out of provisions. The government decided to help drug abusers' who have successfully completed treatment find housing and employment which encourages them not to go back to the life they left. It is these kinds of service provisions that help drug abusers' stop re-offending. Reflecting critically we must help drug abusers' stop re-offending to ensure there is enough service provisions for those that need it. The government strategies help prevent people offending and help those that have offended from re-offending. All these strategies help save service provisions for those that need it. Contextual influences have made the government include families and carer's in treatment which helps to provide the stability and support drug abusers need. Many prisoners receive help to get back into the community, but then within 2 years of being released they are back in prison again. Reflecting critically if there is not greater consistency of education across prisons then people will keep offending and we will be in increasing danger as a result. Certain prisons have good education programmes in operation whereas others lack provisions. Many prisoners have literacy and numeracy problems and need to receive education to enable them to enter the work force. If they get put in a prison where education is poor they may never be able to gain employment when they leave. Learning support for prisoners can end a cycle of re - offending and improve the drug problems. "Through the Prison Gate" (2001) To conclude, the government's strategy to shape service provisions by providing drug related programmes helps to reduce drug related crime. Contextual influences have led the government to focus on shaping service provisions around education and gaining employment. By focussing on education and employment, crimes might be reduced because evidence has shown that crime is driven by the need to finance drug use. Reflecting critically the government needs to focus on educating offenders, this will address the issue head on. If the government concentrates on the areas where drug abuse is most prevalent perhaps they can put an end to it. 1266 words A Report of an Inquiry by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Home Office. Hidden Harm: Responding to the Needs of Children of Problem Drug Users. London: 2003. Report on a Full Announced Inspection of HM Prison Littlehey Home Office (2003), 2-6 December 2002 by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Home Office, London Tackling drugs to build a better Britain: the government's 10 year strategy for tackling drug misuse. President of the Council. London, United Kingdom: HMSO, 1998 Through the Prison Gate Home Office (2001): A Joint Thematic Review by HM Inspectorates of Prisons and Probation, Home Office, London The new NHS, modern, dependable. London: The Stationery Office, 1997 United Nations International Drug Control Programme. Oxford University Press (1997) World Drug Report. New York. United States Office of National Drug Control Strategy.: Washington, DC (1999) Office of the National Drug Control Policy. Read More