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| Officer in prescribe heroin call | Officer in prescribe heroin call |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Heroin should be prescribed to drug addicts to tackle crime, the deputy chief constable of Nottinghamshire Police said. | |
| Howard Roberts told an Association of Chief Police Officers' conference in Manchester the idea should be assessed. | Howard Roberts told an Association of Chief Police Officers' conference in Manchester the idea should be assessed. |
| He said a massive amount of crime, including murder, was carried out by drug addicts to feed their habit. | He said a massive amount of crime, including murder, was carried out by drug addicts to feed their habit. |
| The prescription idea is currently being piloted in London, the south east and the north of England. | The prescription idea is currently being piloted in London, the south east and the north of England. |
| "At the moment across the country we see levels of burglary, robbery and murder being committed by drug-fuelled addicts who are doing so in order to get the money to buy the drugs," Mr Roberts told the drugs conference. | |
| "One of the things I have found that as treatment has been highly effective in actually helping to reduce crime, we've seen good levels of falls in drug-related acquisitive crime. | |
| "However there is still a considerable problem and what I am suggesting is that we need to explore, as part of a treatment programme, the prescribing of heroin to addicts in order to take them out of the illegal market." | |
| Improve treatment | |
| The manager of a Nottinghamshire-based support service for families of drug users, supported the police chief's call. | |
| "I'm delighted that police are taking drug treatment options more seriously and have been doing so over the last few years," said Nina Dauban, manager of Mansfield-based Hetty's. | |
| "In the past police have been forced to go down the enforcement and criminal justice route that doesn't always solve the problem. | |
| "There is a lot of criminality around drugs, reducing the level of criminality is really important in improving treatment for addicts. | |
| "All tribute to him saying this, it's typical of Nottinghamshire Police not to be frightened to speak about their convictions. | |
| "We're not here to win a popularity contest we're out to improve services for drug users." |