A consultation launched by an NHS body known as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) has recommended financial support as an incentive to help abusers stay off drugs.
The launch consultation comes after the announcement by the Department of Health that there will be an increase in the funding received by drug treatment centres, with minister for public health Caroline Flint saying that the Drug Treatment Budget for the next two years would increase from £375 million to £388 million.
Research by Nice has indicated that addicts responded positively to a voucher scheme as reward for attending treatment programmes. All this on the day we hear the NHS is considering asking staff to work one day for free to ease debts of 17 million.
The idea has quite rightly been met with much opposition, with critics arguing that the money could be better spent in other areas. As an individual who has lived in an East London community with a huge drug problem I ask on behalf of many victims of drug abuse, as to whether this is an incentive of common sense or sheer madness. Just under three weeks ago my car window was smashed for the fourth time in two years, and yes you guessed it, my stereo was stolen along with my sunglasses. I had travelled by train to the City and had left my car parked behind the station, which although a market area is one which is frequented by drug addicts.
To bring a fair reflection to this suggestion by Nice I asked a victim of drug abuse (It took me the best part of two minutes to find someone). The sister of a crack addict was horrified to hear the news. “It’s disgusting. My brother has made our lives a misery through the selfish one sided life he has chosen for himself. I hate him for what he’s done to our family and hate him more thinking that there may be a situation where he is rewarded for keeping away from drugs.”
A drug worker friend said he ‘understood the reasoning’ behind the study but feared that a ‘media focus or community outrage’ regarding such schemes could affect proceedings.
In my day job I once worked with my East London school to implement an incentive scheme aimed at rewarding pupils with poor attendance for improvements in attendance, attainment and behaviour. The pros and cons of the scheme were hammered home to me in devastating fashion when a year 11 pupil requested a meeting with me. This pupil then spent the next half hour brutally ripping apart my scheme by informing me in no uncertain terms that the system I had worked so hard to implement was flawed. “You see sir” the pupil said, you are rewarding pupils who have not followed the rules.
“What about someone like me? I have had brilliant attendance for 5 years, am a model pupil and have not even been reprimanded for my uniform. I feel I am more deserving than these pupils, yet you ignore us.
“To earn recognition or a reward, do pupils like me have to go downhill and misbehave for some time as this system tells us that pupils who misbehave, underachieve are more likely to be rewarded.”
Needless to say the wise words of one of my pupils taught me a fantastic lesson, and one which I have always kept in mind since.
At the end of the day drug addicts do not have a gun held to their heads. Whether they are weak or strong individuals, they still have the choice to say yes or no and in my neck of the woods it would only be a matter of time before dealers walk around with ‘vouchers accepted’ badges on their lapels.
In light of this study would it be unreasonable for hardworking, law abiding British citizens to request monetary rewards for keeping on the straight and narrow?. Should there be extra bonuses for pillars of society? Rewarding drug addicts in this manner sends out completely the wrong messages, in that if you are a law breaker, bring misery to individuals and communities you will get rewarded, whereas be a responsible and law abiding citizen and you get nothing.