Work Wise: Crib sheet - A chance to shape drugs policy

I thought we had a tackling drugs strategy? We do, but it was created in 1998 and a lot has happened since. We have a National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse, local drug action teams, a cross-government young people's substance misuse strategy that started in 2005 and Frank, the government's drug awareness campaign. There's a lot of work taking place in the youth justice system as well.

Does the new drugs strategy bring all of this together? The draft strategy, which covers England and Wales, tries to build on a burgeoning research base as well as what has been achieved over the past decade. The paper refers to three priority areas: enforcement against dealers, treatment for drug users (a shortage of treatment services for under-18s is identified as a concern) and education for young people. The first chapter of the paper deals with young people, their families and education.