HC Deb 28 April 2003 vol 404 c199W
19. Mr. Streeter

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the link between acquisitive crime and drug addiction. [109773]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth

Research confirms a strong link between problematic drug misuse and acquisitive crime. Approximately 65 per cent. of arrestees in The New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) research programme tested positive for one or more illegal drug. Early findings from compulsory testing on charge show similar links. For example in the Nottingham area, 50 per cent. charged proved positive for heroin or cocaine.