Councils should prioritise support for young drug users
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Local authorities are being urged to prioritise drug abuse support for young people from the age of 10, in latest guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
The NICE guidance calls for better targeting and support of young people at risk of substance misuse to ensure problems do not escalate and bring them into contact with the criminal justice system as they become teenagers.
Councils, which have responsibility for tackling drug abuse as part of their public health remit, are being urged to develop a local strategy to target and support vulnerable young people at risk of addiction.
Support programmes need to be made available swiftly to the young person and have a strong focus on support for their family as well. This should include parental skills training.
Such support should be offered to families of 11- to 16-year-olds at risk of substance abuse in particular.
NICE also wants councils to assess 10- to 12-year-olds with behavioural problems to see if they are at risk of developing a drug problem. Group therapy is among support NICE recommends for this younger age group.
Councils are also being urged to commission needle and syringe programmes to prevent the spread of disease among users, including younger people with drug problems.
According to NICE, the 16 to 24 age group is the most likely to be frequent drug users. While three in every 100 adults are frequent drug users, this proportion rises to five in every 100 for those in this younger age bracket.
The guidance also says early intervention can save money in the long term. NICE estimates the cost of providing health services to a problem drug user over their lifetime is £35,000, compared to the £445,000 cost to the tax payer of dealing with crime associated with their drug use.
NICE director of public health Professor Mike Kelly said: “This briefing advises that a range of steps are taken, such as assessing local need to ensure that services are targeted to where they are most needed, services and professionals identifying young people who are at risk of using drugs, and referring them to services that can support them.”