The previous strategy remains a disaster, with just 3% emerging abstinent. There was no follow up at either 6, 9 or 12 month intervals to find out if even this abysmal outcome was maintained. The focus is on harm reduction, rather than abstinence focused recovery. HIV and Hep C among injecting drug users continues to soar. The National Treatment Agency (NTA) is unable to provide any data on the numbers who have been socially rintegrated,or in employment, a key objective. The vast majorityof those in treatment are there from the criminal justice system and 93% continue to re-offend. The Nta is unable to provide any data on those in treatment who have mental health problems apart from drug misuse, or what facilities if any are available to offer them suitable treatment. The so called new strategy fails to identify either misuse or dependency as a mental disordr, and consequently does not include any provision for treatment of it as such. Our prisons, apart from being a haven for drug dealers, are overcrowded, mainly with addicts, the majority of who have co-occuring mental disoders, which are not being addressed, conseqently they are being released back into the community without any improvement in their condition, only to re-offend again. The document is not worthy of the term strategy. The NTA is unfit for purpose and lack knowledge of addictions and the mental processes of those addicted.

1- It is human nature to want to help addicts 2-The system has failed to a great exrent 3-We are not learning what works. Almost no accountablity or accurate results. Too much is based on individual rights. Individual rights have been greatly distorted. Judges need to be educated as they just continue to pass along generational problems to the children and families. 4- We need a team approach,as soon as an idividual is identilied with a problem them loose theri privacy rights ( this does not mean info is available to the public) and come under the jurisdiction of the team . The team decides all treatment and discipline and coordinate everything that impacts the addict even jail time. We need to develope small pilot programs for testing and a testing system needs to be developed to determine probability factors for the benifit of the addict and social workers. There is more but it is discouraging the way the present system works