Half of London drug users complete treatment successfully, figures show

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by Change | 13 Oct 2008

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Figures reveal nearly half of London drug users undergo successful treatment.

Nearly half (48 per cent) of those in London who entered drug treatment between 2007 and 2008 completed their programme successfully, according to recent research.

Figures collected by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) show that 6,769 people in the capital came out of a substance abuse clinic successfully.

As well as this, some 13,042 new clients remained in structured drug treatment for 12 weeks or more, an increase of five per cent on the previous year.

"It is very encouraging to see the significant increases in the numbers of people completing treatment successfully as well as new clients being engaged in treatment for long enough to achieve positive benefits to health and social functioning," says Lynn Bransby, NTA regional manager.

She explains that drug treatment is focused on supporting users to remain in treatment and overcome dependency, which will benefit local communities.

The most frequently reported main drug of misuse by adult users was heroin, followed by methadone or other opiates and crack.

Established in 2001, the NTA aims to improve the availability, capacity and effectiveness of treatment for drug misuse.

It has achieved the Department of Health's target of doubling the number of people in treatment for drug abuse between 1998 and 2008.

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