A study in the U.K. found that heroin and crack-cocaine addicts who received treatment for their addictions committed fewer criminal offenses, the Guardian reported Nov. 17.

The study followed 1,500 recently convicted heroin and crack users sentenced to addiction treatment instead of jail. The number of offenses committed by addicts fell by nearly 50 percent after they entered a treatment program. While theft decreased the most, reduction in crime was consistent, with fraud, drug possession, and prostitution all falling by half.

"While this confirms the value of using substitute prescribing ... to stabilize drug users, it also shows crime is cut rather than eradicated," said Paul Hayes of the U.K.'s National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA). He added that drug workers needed to "go further and do more to actively get users off drugs and reintegrated into society."

The study was conducted by Manchester University's National Drug Evidence Center and was commissioned by the NTA.