§ Dr. IddonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what support his Department gives to abstinence as distinct from maintenance programmes for drug addicts; and if he will list the targets of these programmes and action taken in pursuit of them. [104870]
§ Yvette CooperThe commissioning of services for drug misusers is essentially a matter for local discretion. Health authorities and local authorities will receive an extra £70.5 million over the next three years to commission and develop drug treatment services.
The Government believe that a range of treatments should be available to allow drug misusers to benefit from those most appropriate to their needs and abstinence should be the primary aim of treatment. Guidance on commissioning standards and on clinical management has been issued by the Department which makes clear that 332W maintenance prescribing should not be a treatment of first choice in a patient presenting for the first time, where other options have not initially been tried.