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Mev Brown: Getting hooked on 'zero tolerance' is wrong

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Published Date: 15 April 2009
By Mev Brown
WHAT does "zero tolerance" really mean? The three recent deaths at the Leith Street hostel occurred in accommodation operating a "zero tolerance" drugs policy, where residents caught abusing illegal substances face eviction.
And then what? The council still has a duty to house the now homeless addict, so he or she will most likely move to a B&B, where untrained staff will be less likely to catch the addict a second time. If they did, the council will move the addict on a
gain.

A "zero tolerance" drugs policy is flawed on two counts. Firstly, it is legal to be under the influence of illegal substances – it is only illegal to be caught in possession them. Secondly, the state is the biggest supplier of class A drugs in the UK.

In Scotland, the NHS supplies around 30 per cent of the opiate market by way of methadone – a class A drug – and there are economic arguments for this.

The standard street trade is the "tenner" (£10) bag, which contains around 0.1 grams of heroin. For addicts moving to the methadone programme, the rough ratio is 100ml of methadone per gram of heroin, i.e. £100 of street drugs, is being "treated" with around 100ml of methadone per day.

Given that the NHS ships around 300,000 litres of methadone a year, methadone is substituting around £300 million of street drugs a year. If we say stolen goods sell on the streets for 25 per cent of their ticket value, this equates to 300,000 litres of state-supplied methadone, cutting £1.2 billion off Scotland's crime figures. The cost of Scotland's methadone programme is around £15m – excellent value for money.

But the approximate 70 per cent of the opiate market the state doesn't supply will cost the Scottish public around £2.8bn in stolen goods. Because this policy maintains addiction, a rising number of drug addicts now cost us an estimated extra £2.6bn in benefits, NHS, social work and the criminal justice system. So we need to get serious about having a zero tolerance policy.

Mev Brown works with the homeless in Edinburgh and is seeking nomination with the Jury Team for the European elections




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  • Last Updated: 15 April 2009 8:43 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Drugs policy
 
1

elayne,

15/04/2009 12:40:15
addicts should be made to get treatment before being offered any kind of housing!!!addiction makes a big dent in public money,addicts should be housed in special places with staff who are trained in this line of work,not left in b and bs,while i sympathise with some who have had a tough break in life,i still feel angry that the taxpayer has to foot the bill(benefits etc)before being considered for housing the addict should agree to get help and stick to it,sick of hearing about addicts who are housed before working families!
2

OldmanfaeMethil,

Glasgow 15/04/2009 14:00:06
Elayne. You have a terribly limited understanding of a subject on which you seem to endlessly comments.

Where are all these 'working families' waiting to get housed? If they are working, why are they seeking assistance from Housing Assoc's and the council? Could it be because they have struggled in the past and need a bit of a leg up?

Many of those being offered help have worked in the past and desire to do so again. There is no magic pill of addiction treatment and the idea that you need to agree to 'treatment' ( a fairly big concept), prior to being given a roof over your head is frankly stupid.

By the way, most users of heroin live in the most horrendous accommodation circumstances, such as the condemned flats in Greendykes, hostels or threadbare Bed adn Breakfasts. The odd person who manages to secure a place in a new build housing assoc flat does not reflect the experience of most.

Learn some facts and stop believing the ridiculous headlines in right wing / Nazi newspapers.
3

totally indecent,

15/04/2009 15:14:14
Oldknowitall - There are plenty of working people waiting for council flats - not seeking assistance - working and paying their own way but looking for a flat to rent. Lots of different reasons - you don't have to be an addict to have troubles. You may not have noticed but a lot of marraiges split up these days. Not everyone can afford a mortgage on one salary.

And boo-hoo if the addicts are in crummy flats - that is where they belong.
4

elayne,

15/04/2009 16:48:30
#2 please dont patronise me!if you are from methil,,,you will know exactly what im talking about(i live further down the coast in fife)well meaning social workers have turned one estate in our town into a dumping ground for addicts from your neck of the woods!!!!i acknowledge they need help,but ultimatly it is THEIR choice,they chose to inject all manner of stuff into themselves,live in poverty,etc,we all have choices in life,so they should not go round saying"take pity on me,im an addict",nor should they expect preferential treatment!if they can get clean,,then great,i respect that totally,but if they make no effort and expect people to feel sorry for them,well,tough!heres one who doesnt,ask any of the people who live in estate in my town and they will tell you,,some have moved away(rented other accomodation,saved up and bought a flat etc)because they have seen the area go rapidly downhill,due to influx of addicts(mostly from other areas)and all the problems they bring with them.I dont read nazi/right wing papers either by the way!(im a pretty tolerant ex punk with red hair and tattoos,just happen to get annoyed that my tax goes towards funding drug addicts lifestyles!)
5

The real dracula,

15/04/2009 20:50:12
Thats alll very well mev brown but methadone has side effects similar to heroin , still gives the user the high and the user still develops tolerance and may take heroin in addition to achieve that high.
Bearing in mind methadone has a 96+% FAILURE rate in weaning addicts off drugs , all we are doing is shifting from one drug to the next,,,,,,no good for the addict or their health.

Is just government spin to reduce the crime associated with heroin use . Its definately NOT the answer.
6

zenith,

USA 16/04/2009 04:29:51
Saying that methadone has a 96% failure rate at weaning addicts off drugs is BS. The alleged "study" you base this on considers anyone who is still on methadone after 3 years time to be a "failure", even if they are off all illicit drugs and doing great. This is something that none of the articles about the study bothered to point out. We don't say that insulin is a failure because people are still on it after three years and continue to need it to control your disease, do we? Opioid addiction is much the same--it is a failure of the brain to produce normal endorphins,our natural opiates, just as diabetes is the failure of the pancreas to produce insulin. Long term opioid abuse can cause this problem (just as poor eating habits can cause diabetes) and in many patients the deficiency is permanent. Methadone treatment was never intended by it's inventors as a short term weaning tool--it was intended to stabilize and normalize the brain chemistry of these people so they could return to a normal life. Yet, your study considers people who did just that to be "treatment failures". Ridiculous!
7

MAMAorg,

USA 17/04/2009 09:49:55
Zenith happens to be a long time methadone user and advocate in the USA for the use of this highly addictive drug. We have found them to be very defensive of any negative publications and make every effort to counter act these postings. Pro supporters have been known to give a long line of excuses as to why they must stay on this drug for years or even a lifetime. Maybe staying on a highly addictive narcotic is NORMAL for them but is NOT the answer to treating addiction. It is only replacing one drug for another and they will say or do what ever it takes to convince the public how Methadone, "saved their life". In the USA it is the #1 killer of a prescription narcotic and these deaths do come from the clinics as well as the use of pain management. Clinic users are known to trade and sell their take home doses, some of which have caused deaths. Taking Methadone is NOT being drug free nor is it a life of sobriety but a socially acceptable drug substitution that is out of control.
It is sad that these user's will stoop so low to compare themselves to a diabetic who needs insulin or a cancer patient that needs chemo, but they do. They actually believe they deserve to be fed a drug instead of fighting the battle of addiction and really become clean and free of the demon. It is possible, not an easy task and may take many failures until one succeeds but can be done. First, you must have the desire to do it and resist all temptations. But, with methadone being offered an addict does not have to work at coming clean, they just go and feed their cravings. You would not sit and totally believe what a heroin user tells you, yet we listen to these who defend Methadone as they fear losing their sources of legalized drug dealing. They continue to live under the influence of a powerful drug yet remain in denial.

Mothers Against Medical Abuse. Org
8

Thomas P,

22/05/2009 14:29:23
Zenith also happend to be right...

 

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