Calls for greater investment in Welsh drug addiction treatments

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by Change | 1 Sep 2010

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A new wave of investment is needed in drug addiction treatments in Wales, it has been suggested.

More money needs to be invested in drug addiction services in Wales to curb the number of substance abuse-related deaths in the country.

This is according to south-west Wales assembly member Peter Black, who said the situation was particularly serious in Swansea, a city that is estimated to be home to approximately 7,000 heroin users, WalesOnline.co.uk reports.

Mr Black explained that currently, an individual in need of drug addiction intervention could have to wait up to nine months before they start receiving treatment.

"The truth is that the best way to get treated for drug addiction across Wales is to commit a crime," he told the news provider.

"That cannot be right and I will be raising it again with the health minister."

Mr Black spoke after the publication of figures from the International Centre for Drugs Policy revealed that deaths in Wales stemming from drug abuse have increased by 67 per cent since 2007.

According to a study in The Lancet three years ago, heroin is the most addictive Class A drug, closely followed by cocaine.

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