§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 16 March 1998,Official Report, column 514, for what reasons it was never intended that the Teesside University Criminology Department's research on anti-drugs campaigns should be published. [35289]
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§ Mr. George HowarthThe research was commissioned to inform the development of local prevention activities of the then Newcastle Drug Prevention Team and other local agencies and the report includes the account of interviews which the research team carried out on a confidential basis. I shall, however, write to my hon. Friend with a summary of the report's recommendations.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has evaluated on the extent to which anti-drug campaigns lead to(a) increased and (b) decreased levels of drug use. [35290]
§ Mr. George HowarthEmerging evidence from work done by the Home Office Drug Prevention Initiative suggests that information can play an important part in drugs prevention when it is tailored to a specific local audience and linked with other ventures.
The Department of Health contracted the Health Education Authority to carry out a national publicity campaign between 1995 and 1998 to raise awareness of the risks associated with drug misuse. This includes provision for evaluation which should be available towards the end of this year.