The government of England has released a study showing that record numbers of drug users are receiving treatment, but critics are up in arms because, as crazy as it sounds, the "treatment" can include extra drugs for "good behavior." The practice, under the UK's socialized medicine services, has drawn fire from various quarters who believe a better approach to drug addiction is drug rehab.



The official study, conducted for the National Treatment Agency (NTA) which runs the Government's £500 million-a-year (just over US $1 billion) addiction treatment program says many clinics reward users with increased doses of the heroin substitute methadone, or with anti-depressant drugs, for providing urine tests that are clean for heroin and cocaine. The current UK government's policies stress "addiction management" which keeps addicts addicted to alternative drugs rather than getting them through drug rehab programs. If any addicts were referred to life-recovering drug rehab programs, no figures were reported.

The study found that nearly a third of the 191 clinics surveyed said they would consider giving extra methadone to those undergoing methadone treatment for heroin addiction, if their urine samples were clear of crack and cocaine. Less common rewards for drug users' good behavior included anti-depressants, cash and shopping vouchers and, in a few instances, access to drug detox. Hopefully that would include drug rehab services with good long-term follow-up care where an addict could possibly handle his addiction for good.

The NTA itself has admitted that offering drugs for anything other than clinical need is unethical, and said it wants to see certain practices "squeezed out of the system," a BBC news broadcast reported. And Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said the practice raised "very serious issues." While insisting the NTA did not accept the problem was on the scale suggested, she said it was "unacceptable" and should not happen.

Meanwhile, the opposition Conservative party said the Labor government's drugs policy was "a shambles" and claimed that giving addicts methadone does not get them off heroin – it just keeps them addicted to a substitute drug. Only residential abstinence-based drug rehab programs have proved successful in getting addicts clean, they said.

The UK government's alcohol policies have also come under attack recently. Over the past 20 years, per capita alcohol consumption in Britain has increased by well over 30%, leading to large increases in alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, alcohol-related violence and crime, and increasingly serious alcohol abuse among younger people. It is estimated that alcohol misuse causes at least 22,000 premature deaths each year in the UK, and costs taxpayers an estimated £20 billion (about US $40 billion).

I don't want to join a political debate, but it seems that probably sooner rather than later, the UK public are going to turn out the Labor government in favor of a new government that takes a firm stand on alcohol and drug addiction, and greatly increases the availability of a sensible alcohol and drug rehab program instead of keeping addicts addicted.