Your Community

The new National Drug Strategy 2008-18 has a strong focus on strengthening communities through robust enforcement to tackle drug supply, drug-related crime and anti-social behaviour.  This is to be achieved through:

• Neighbourhood Policing and community engagement in identifying and resolving drug related problems in local areas;
• Increased, improved and more visible police enforcement action to disrupt the supply of illegal drugs;
• Communities seeing tangible benefits of police enforcement action.

There is also a heavy emphasis on reducing public perceptions of drug use and drug dealing in local areas.  This runs as a theme throughout the above.

In Norfolk, the focus is upon equipping Safer Neighbourhood Teams to positively respond to the substance misuse related issues that they come across, particularly in the aftermath of police enforcement actions to reduce the supply of illegal drugs.  This is achieved by providing: basic drug and alcohol awareness training; substance misuse information leaflets, particularly for parents and carers; and information of how to refer people to treatment services.      

Under the previous drug strategy, there were a number of different areas of work that were aimed at reducing the impact of drug use upon communities.  This included:

• Tackling drugs in rural areas;
• Promotion of public sharps bins;
• Access to long term housing provision for homeless substance misusers;
• Engagement of street-based sex workers in substance misuse treatment services;
• Implementation of the Home Office Safer Clubbing guidance;
• Raising awareness of drug driving.

Many of these aspects of work have been absorbed into core DAAT activity and will continue to be an important feature over the next years.