Chapter 7: Discussion
Introduction
This report was borne from a previous EIU study that highlighted heroin dealing to be the primary drugs issue facing the police across Scotland. The study's provisional picture of experiences in tackling low-level drug markets demonstrated the need for a more detailed piece of work.
By building a comprehensive picture of low-level heroin markets in three areas, this report has aimed to generate research evidence that identifies lessons for improved practice concerning drug markets. A wide range of people were interviewed, including the police, drug workers, local residents and heroin buyers and / or sellers to generate an understanding of the levels and nature of related and collateral harm.
This discussion analyses the nature and extent of the markets, and the effectiveness of approaches employed locally to counter low-level heroin dealing. From this, key lessons for local strategies are drawn.
The Case Study Areas
All three case-study areas chosen were affected by issues related to the buying and selling of heroin. The variation between the three chosen areas in terms of socio-economic and other variables might be considered to have informed the rationale for this research framework - the assumption that heroin markets vary with socio-economic characteristics. Although this was not our intended focus of study, it does need to be discussed particularly in light of our findings.
By choosing three distinctly different areas, we hoped to produce a variety of experiences not solely with regard to the nature of the markets, but in terms of the effectiveness of local approaches and the levels of related and collateral harm. However, we found that the markets in all three areas share a large degree of similarity. Certainly, despite differences in size of the markets, the modes of buying and selling, for example, were of a similar type.
Our research approach may be considered to have a number of limitations in this regard, influencing our findings generally. By solely collecting qualitative data our results are based on the experiences and views of those interviewed. We are open to accusations of sample bias, based on the selection of individuals that were recruited to interview. This approach however is beneficial. By undertaking extensive interviews with heroin buyers for example, a detailed picture of individuals' experiences could be built-up, indicative of the nature and extent of local markets. Also, there was a degree of unanimity concerning the form and content of local markets across a wide range of informants, allowing a measure of triangulation from a variety of theoretically contrasting viewpoints.
The nature of heroin markets
Low-level heroin markets are by their very nature fickle and hard to predict. Bearing this in mind our findings do demonstrate a high level of uniformity between areas. Buyers' experiences in each area showed there to be remarkable conformity in how a market operates. The markets were similar both in the nature of the transaction method and of those undertaking the buying and selling of heroin. The need to be known to a seller and for the actual transaction to occur within a residential property between a user and a user/dealer can, in terms of our findings, be considered to be the prevalent methods of market 'organisation'.
The vast majority of the transactions undertaken at the low-level were by user/dealers. Generally speaking, it was felt that they operate in a similar, closed fashion, defining the overall nature of the market. It did become apparent, however, through the course of the research, that a market is the sum of similar, but not identical experiences.
Users/dealers adopt methods associated with a closed market due to the perceived or actual threat of police activity. There is evidence to suggest that they are not static and will switch their method of delivery in response to the perceived presence or absence of this threat. In each area, they may stop dealing from a residential property and start undertaking business in public spaces. This is not to say that dealing is no longer closed. It is almost certainly still between known individuals, but at a pre-arranged location, determined through the use of mobile phones.
Low-level heroin markets are clandestine in nature. The methods of delivery by user/dealers predominantly look to maintain this. From the limited evidence gained, market visibility appeared to be low within the three communities.
Heroin markets appear separate to markets for other drugs. The possibility of individuals being introduced to heroin through the use of e.g. cannabis is limited. However, there is some evidence that heroin users may be introduced to Benzodiazepines and/or Crack-Cocaine though their dealer, although it is likely that a substitution effect is present here. The market demand for heroin, though, is not stimulated through the active introduction of heroin to individuals by those who deal. The role of friends is more important in this regard.
The demand for heroin in each area was deemed high. Individuals are not being introduced to new drugs by a dealer, and there were no reported attempts to persuade users to 'trade up' to new and more expensive (and therefore more profitable) forms of drug use, which suggests although the markets are closed they are buoyant.
It impossible to assess confidently the size of the market in each area. When users and dealers were questioned about the number of dealers operating in the area the range of answers varied considerably. A clear consensus could not be drawn, based on the differing experiences of respondents, and the general unpredictability regarding market form. It was felt that the markets consist predominantly of a large number of users who may deal (as user/dealers) for limited periods to maintain their dependency. The large variation in estimates of the number of local dealers ( e.g. from 8 to over 34 in Fishton) suggests that users generally have only a limited picture of the extent of the market, limited to their own range of street-level dealers (probably user/dealers), only supplemented by back-up dealers if their normal supply is restricted.
Users' Activities
Heroin users consider themselves as having the means and know-how to access numerous user/dealers for a source of the drug. They have a range of contacts, both within the locality and further afield in this regard. A number of different individuals may be approached, not necessarily due to concerns over availability, but in a search for better product quality. In all of the three study areas, with the price of the standard market unit ('bag') displaying remarkable uniformity, individuals will strive, due to perceived variations in quality, to get as much as they can for their money. All respondents felt that the quality of heroin available from dealers within the localities varies, with the result being that users may move between dealers (based on word-of-mouth) to obtain the best 'deal' for their money.
Becoming a dealer
For a user to become a user/dealer a given level of capital is required, as is the knowledge of possible 'wholesale' contacts. Individuals not only need to be able to finance this move up the supply chain but to derive benefit from undertaking it. The act of becoming a user/dealer misses out at least one stage of the supply chain, as it furnishes their own supply and a greater level of control over product quality. However, personal use does need to be balanced against dealing.
For users to become user/dealers funds may be derived from licit and/or illicit means. Dealing may be considered a more attractive means of maintaining their dependence than other illicit means that have generated the funds previously. Some users will move into dealing as part of a gradual continuum of undertaking criminal acts. Individuals may be involved in criminality before the onset of drug dependence, but not all become involved with drugs such as heroin. Dependent heroin users will, though, face an increased risk of becoming involved with such activities. Drug dealing for some may represent an activity that becomes increasingly attractive with the duration of use.
The boundary between a user and a user/dealer is fluid and one punctuated by a series of changes - as are the boundaries within the sliding distinction. User/dealers may sell varying amounts, for differing time-frames. The exact number of individuals undertaking this activity within a given period may fluctuate. The closed nature of the market may mean that no particular user knows of all the possible points of supply in the area. For many within a given market attempts at a becoming a user/dealer will fail, whilst for those who maintain this activity a 'glass ceiling' seems to exist. It is felt that it is difficult for a user/dealer to become a dealer/user. The reverse may be possible as a dealer/user may become increasingly dependent on heroin due to their close proximity to the drug. Similar to a pub landlord drinking the profits, the would-be dealer then finds he has no more of the product to sell on and thus no money to buy a further supply and so is back to square one at the bottom of the chain.
Market structure
Markets within the three study areas appear to be 'bottom-heavy', as numerous user/dealers are thought to be operating (at a given point in time) in each area. It is difficult for users in each of the areas to place a number on those dealing. This may be partly due to the markets being closed, but possibly more due to the desire for users to attempt dealing, but possibly failing or only doing so for time-limited periods. The fragmented nature of low-level markets described above certainly fits well with the inconsistencies found among users' estimates of the number of local dealers in the three areas studied
Within a market, the perceived variations in purity may be a determining factor in market activity. If, for example a user/dealer reduced the quality of heroin within a bag, based on the escalation of their use, users may choose to purchase their heroin elsewhere. Within each area, there was evidence to suggest that the location of market activity may not relate solely to the source of supply, but to the quality of the heroin supplied.
This point must also be treated with caution. The motivations of users and the degree to which purity levels actually vary are open to debate. Amongst users this process is based purely on word-of-mouth, it being acknowledged that every user/dealer claims to have the best quality heroin.
Some users demonstrated the desire to stick to a particular, or a select number of user/dealers, and not be influenced by the word-of-mouth. The convenience of this approach, coupled with an increased possibility of receiving credit was seen to far outweigh the short-term benefits of getting better quality within a bag.
The level of police enforcement was not considered to have enough of a sustained impact to limit supply to the point where price increases may occur. From the evidence gained, the demand for heroin in each area appears to be too high for the police to have anything other than a short-lived impact. From the accounts of users, market forces, rather than police activity have a greater, and more sustained impact on their actions.
The Effect on the Local Community
Despite the limited visibility of actual market transactions, and the reportedly low incidence of discarded needles, the effect on the local community could in many ways be considered high. For the families affected by a member's use this was certainly the case. For an area to be associated with the availability of heroin, and related levels of crime was not seen to be attractive or as one contributing to a positive future.
The reputation of the area
Heroin availability is not confined to three case study areas, yet community respondents in Fishton and Hailton felt that undue negative press, through local and national media sources was continually highlighting their area as one associated with the 'high' availability of heroin. Respondents told us that this had a negative effect on the whole community - users and non-users alike. The nature of the impact concerned the possibility of deterring potential inward investment and reducing the advantages and potential gain of any attempt at regeneration.
The labelling of communities as areas of high drug use (and therefore, by association, of high criminality) was seen to be unjustified. It was not that the area was immune from drug use (although certain Tannochbrae respondents might have been surprised at just how widespread it was), but that in each case, the study areas were no worse in this respect than surrounding settlements. It is clear in each area (including Tannochbrae) that users reported few difficulties in obtaining a source of heroin. However, in times of limited availability they were equally confident of travelling out of the area to gain a supply.
Drug-related crime
Drug-related crime is inextricably linked to dependent heroin use. Dependent drug use does not always necessitate acquisitive crime, but by using heroin individuals are placing themselves at greater risk of wider criminal involvement.
The continuing availability of heroin in each area means that a proportion of heroin users will be committing criminal acts, often shoplifting, to fund their use. We cannot, however, be clear on the exact number undertaking these acts, nor the volume of their crimes. Within our interview sample, users often did not speak about the possible need to commit criminal acts in the first person, either because they were unwilling to speak in this regard, or because they have been funding their use through licit means. In Fishton in particular, users spoke of using state benefits or a working wage to finance their use.
The diversity that may exist amongst heroin users does need to be recognised. It was a salient point amongst the users interviewed, primarily due to their perception of general community hostility towards them as criminals. It may be simplistic to suggest that the general reduction in purity has led to a possible increase in crime, but it may have changed the nature of crime, with more users looking to become, and possibly failing to become a user/dealer. Users will turn away from shoplifting if they feel that their activities have attracted too much attention from shopkeepers and/or the police. They may turn to low-level dealing as an alternative using the money made from shoplifting as a 'stake' to finance their initial supply. However, the vagaries of the market coupled with the ever-present temptation to over-indulge in their own product may lead to a short-lived experience as a user/dealer and a return to shoplifting or other forms of crime.
Fear of crime
As discussed in Chapter 5, fear of crime and in particular fear of drug-related crime is apparent in all three case-study areas. However, in only a very few cases is this fear based on first-hand experience of crimes that have actually occurred. This does also need to be treated with an air of caution due to the small sample sizes. However, it still limits respondents' actions, for instance making them less willing to venture out alone late at night. Views varied concerning the extent to which local crime is fuelled by drug use. While the large majority of community respondents believe that all drug use is funded by criminal activity, users dispute this, reporting that this is not exclusively the case. However, although paid employment or welfare benefits may support some users' habits, most will resort to theft, perhaps initially from their own family, if or when their dependency escalates. Violence and other crimes against the person are reported to be far less common, although the incidence is increasing.
Fear of crime will impinge on all community members, including drug users themselves. This takes the form of hostility to those seen as involved in the drug scene - the visible community of drug users - whether this involvement is real or imagined. Thus community respondents in Hailton were concerned about the number of young people hanging around the local pharmacy, believing that they were there to exchange or sell on drugs they had been dispensed. While in some cases these views may have been justified, little or no evidence for this was available during the research.
It also has implications for the police. Community respondents were anxious that police are seen to be active on the ground. This means, as one respondent put it, ' it's not just running around in cars, making lots of noise, but actually getting out on patrol and arresting the dealers.' Differential police responses to crime and the fear of crime are further discussed below.
Nature of drug use
The nature of the heroin markets, in terms of heroin quality is linked to the method of use. Injecting is increasingly common as the method of administration. Even if not the preferred method for an individual, economic considerations may override personal fears and prejudices about the practice.
The move to the injection of heroin may alter an individual's activities. It may, reduce the frequency and type of criminality required to fund a habit. In the longer term, though, increased personal tolerance may offset any initial effect, and the levels of criminality will resume.
The overall numbers of users injecting appears to have increased, and based on the activities of individuals' their use and the need for injecting equipment may vary. The need for harm reduction services in each area is increasing, whilst the chaotic nature of heroin use may mean that individuals are not accessing the service when they most require it. Harm reduction services are likely, at any given point to have a client load consisting of 'stable' injectors and a minority of chaotic users, who may not access the service in line with their need. The possibility of discarded needles being found and risks to the user's own personal health may therefore increase.
The location of each harm reduction service and the methods they operate need to be evaluated to assess whether or not they can improve in meeting the needs of chaotic users, and those individuals, who due to their nature are the most likely to discard needles.
The outreach component of the harm reduction service in Tannochbrae needs to be further investigated as a possible example of good practise. It may bridge the gap between the characteristics of drug users and potential service effectiveness, by limiting the possibility of needles being discarded in public. It may also help to reduce communities' fears about heroin use.
Responding to low-level markets
Role of the police
In Scotland, as elsewhere in the UK, it is the police who take principal responsibility for law enforcement. In each of the three areas, in company with Customs and Excise and the Procurator Fiscal, it is the police who take the major role in identifying and countering the importation and selling of illicit drugs. Thus the role and activities of the police provided an important focus for this research.
Police in all areas are under pressure to show results from operations against drug dealers, results commensurate with the level of resources invested. This has prompted a move towards targeting dealers higher up the supply chain and a more strategic approach, based principally around the development of packages of intelligence. The police acknowledge that they should be targeting those dealers higher-up the chain rather than user/dealers, yet as Pearson et al (2001) acknowledge, police operations restricted by resources are often unable to pursue links up and down a supply chain. The nature of the markets being 'bottom-heavy' makes it difficult for the police as user/dealers seem to be easily replaced, whilst they may have little knowledge of the higher-end of the supply chain for the police to pursue.
The numbers of user/dealers can only be estimated, at a given point, but from the accounts of users the impact of the police can be understood in terms of how little criminal activity the police encounter in proportion to a 'dark-figure' of crime (cf. Best et al, 2001; O'Connor, 1996).
"By targeting those who connect drug buyer and seller, officers will often be targeting those who are easiest to replace. They will also be targeting those who have little - if any - knowledge of the wider distribution network(s) above street level or the supply routes into the market".
(May et al, 2000. p. 46)
Market responsiveness
The threat of police activity, either actual or perceived, does not appear to be affecting the availability of heroin. In each area, there is someone always willing to deal. User/dealers may be arrested, but are all too easy to replace. The police are placing tangible costs onto dealers, as it is far from an efficient system of operation they are undertaking. But market change appears to be as much governed by the nature of heroin use as by the enforcement activities of the police.
However effective the police are in acting against drug dealing and drug-related crime in their areas, they realise that part of what they need to do is to gain and retain the confidence of the local community that they are taking the necessary action against drugs. Disrupting local drug markets can contribute to it, as can the high visibility policing practised by the Housing Dept officers in Hailton. One respondent explained
"So how big an impact on the community - certainly the operation that we did this week, with the full force of the public order unit breaking down the door that everybody knows is dealing, has a major impact on the community perceiving that the police, and it is a perception, that the police are doing a lot to target that".
This may be seen as a positive for the police, in terms of market disruption, if there are adequate links with treatment. In what may be considered to be an already volatile market, well-targeted disruption may result in large dividends as chaotic individuals assess their position and their involvement with heroin.
Any strategy by the police, it seems, is prompting adaptations in the market. User/dealers, by modifying their behaviour believe they can 'beat the system'. Limited by lack of resources, the police face an opposition who are fast learners and able to adapt their dealing behaviour to frustrate police activities. It is often seen as a war of attrition.
"So we've become smarter, we've become better at it and as a consequence, the drug dealers have got better as well. They tend to deal in smaller amounts so that if we catch them, they may run down to the city two, three, four times a day and bring back small amounts rather than go and get one big amount because if we catch someone with two or three ounces of heroin they'll go to jail for a long period of time. If we catch someone with an eighth of heroin which is 20 deals, they maybe only get a monetary fine".
But the police can adapt their approaches as well:
"It may very well be that we'll try something different. It doesn't always pay us to go to a door with a ram, sometimes we need to be a bit sneakier and put someone up in a postie's uniform or something, or indeed we've even done it where we've put a uniformed officer up to the door to knock on the door, on a spurious enquiry and as soon as the door's opened, we then rush in".
The police believe that they are 'holding the line', stopping the problem growing any larger than it already is. But markets change and the police response must change with them:
"…Drug markets can be highly responsive to enforcement efforts, but the form of response is sometimes an adaptation which undercuts the enforcement strategy. Enforcement methods clearly have to keep pace with such changes".
(May et al, 2000. p. 43)
Perverse effects
Any enforcement strategy may produce perverse effects. If an existing user/dealer, for example, believes that they can 'beat-the-system' by adapting the manner in which they operate, then other users may see the practice as attractive and move into dealing themselves. Police presence, even in the form of targeted operations may at best only exert a time-limited effect on the mindset of a user considering dealing.
Police activity focuses on the drug user. For some users a successful police operation arresting user/dealers may trigger them to take up dealing as they feel market competition will be reduced, and the possibility of successful dealing correspondingly increased. This would certainly provide a view - albeit extreme - that fits individuals downplaying the risk of enforcement. However, the most likely perverse effect of police activity is the displacement of the market.
Displacement of a market can increase the costs placed onto a user as it makes it more difficult for them to access a supply of heroin. Displacement may also exert a positive effect. By increasing the search time for a user, the police may in fact challenge the user's desire to continue using. This may certainly be the case for the most chaotic users, but is an approach that needs to be carefully evaluated.
Role of treatment
If they are to exert maximum effect, supply-side responses need to be supported and enhanced by those responsible for reducing demand. Attempts at disrupting markets through the targeting of known users and user/dealers may encourage them to reconsider their continued drug use. The increased 'hassle' from the police may provide a critical turning point for users who already feel 'sick and tired of being sick and tired'. But for contemplation to turn to action, treatment services must be available, accessible and acceptable to the users who may now consider approaching them.
However, although it was not the intention of this research to undertake a review of services in the three areas in question, the views of service users, of community members and in some cases of the service providers themselves, were often less than complimentary concerning current treatment provision. Significant reservations were expressed concerning waiting lists for treatment, especially for prescribing. Lack of throughcare and aftercare and limited employment opportunities were also seen as problematic. The research team gained the distinct impression that the demand-side response would need to improve if it was to offer users a realistic and acceptable alternative to the option of continued drug use.
Role of the community
Police officers in each of the three areas were convinced that they could not take responsibility alone for resolving the drug problem. However effective the police are in acting against drug dealing and drug-related crime in their areas, they realise that part of what they need to do is to gain and retain the confidence of the local community and provide reassurance that they are taking the necessary action against drugs.
The community can provide an important resource in tackling drug use and related crime. In Hailton the development and maintenance of good community links by the DHIT officers has contributed to the free flow of intelligence concerning drug-related activities. Building on this will enable the community to work together with the police to counter, if not resolve, drug problems in the locality. The perception that information passed to the police is acted on, even if it is only to disrupt drug markets rather than arrest the dealers, will support a community view that continuing to pass such information is a worthwhile activity. Probably more difficult, especially in poorer parts of the case-study areas, will be persuading members of the local community to pass up the chance to buy (obviously) stolen goods cheaply on the basis that doing so is contributing to the continuation of drug-related crime. However, a number of police informants were apparently convinced that the local community must at least consider this and take responsibility for the support this provides for continuing drug-related crime.
Demand vs supply-side initiatives
It was clear within all three of the areas studied, that supply-side activities taken alone are unlikely to achieve long-term success in reducing drug availability. Given that drug markets cannot be eradicated, at least not with the given resource allocation and current levels of social control, we need to consider what approaches might prove most useful in reducing the harm.
"…The question is, given that we cannot totally prevent illegal drug markets…what kind of markets do we least dislike, and how can we adjust the control mix so as to push markets in the least undesired direction?"
(Dorn and South, 1990)
Supply-side measures act as isolated activities that will have a limited effect on a given market for a dependent drug. Heroin is a drug of tolerance, its increased use leads to greater need. Even with a possible degree of elasticity within the concept of demand-inelasticity, there will be users continually looking to maintain their dependence, and whilst there is demand there will be individuals seeking to supply this demand.
"It seems to me as an economist that, if you attack the supply but do little about demand, then the result is rising prices, rising profitability, and hence increased entrepreneurship. I suspect that is why such suppression-oriented approaches have persistently failed in other countries".
(Phongpaichit, P 2003; cf. Roberts, Trace and Klien, 2004 p. 4)
Moving Forward
In a given area responses towards the availability of illicit drugs need to instil community confidence. Interventions, such as that of the police need to be effective, but also required are links with treatment provision and for treatment to have an active role in any regeneration attempts within an area.
Drug use runs deeper than simple issues of availability. Drug use is one of a variety of problems that face deprived areas but without tackling it, regeneration attempts may be fatally flawed. In the one area where the greatest level of community participation in the research process was achieved there was a genuine sense of the lack of a cohesive unit acting for the collective good, demonstrated by the negative views that exist towards heroin users.
High visibility policing may provide community reassurance about the action being taken to tackle drug use, helping residents not to feel blighted by the availability of drugs. Police presence may reduce the fear of crime that exists, but it may also have detrimental consequences. Increased policing has removed open dealing in public spaces and so the community do not see much market activity. However, a major finding of a recent paper (Shiner et al, 2004) exploring community responses to drugs was the authors' reservations about a community's involvement and engagement with law enforcement. In a given area if policing is not deemed effective then individuals may be unwilling to engage in liaison as they see the problems within their area of residence as not their responsibility to resolve.
Creating joined-up working
The Drug and Alcohol Action Team provides the necessary framework for discussion and strategic planning to deliver a joined-up approach to countering drug availability and resultant harms. By bringing together representatives of criminal justice, social care, health care and housing agencies, the DAAT provides the required structure for the planning and delivery of a concerted response to local drug markets. Police, treatment and the local community can agree to work together rather than separately, ensuring that all available resources are employed to optimum effect. Examples of joint working discussed below are drawn from research in the three case-study areas but may have implications for other areas across Scotland (and the UK).
Treatment and the police
A significant proportion of heroin users will have come into contact with the criminal justice system at least once; this will provide an opportunity to attempt engagement with treatment. This line of thinking is demonstrated in the provision of arrest referral schemes, and building from this the Drugs Intervention Programme, which has recently completed its implementation across England. Although there is evidence of arrest referral schemes in each of the three areas studied, the authors doubt whether they have reached their true potential. A more concerted and better planned approach is required, linking police activity targeting users and dealers with the improved capacity of treatment agencies to proactively reach out to offer realistic and acceptable alternatives to continued drug use.
In terms of market economics it is well accepted that demand-side measures need to be the focus of public monies, particularly in conjunction with joint-working with those on the supply-side. Crucial to this will be the ability of treatment providers to work jointly with the police and have both the willingness and capacity to cater for those users approaching them for help as a result of police action. From the comments of both users and other respondents interviewed in the course of this research, the authors are doubtful whether this is currently the case.
Police and treatment
The inter-linking of police operations with effective treatment provision was cited by the overwhelming majority of professional respondents in each area as the way forward, with the police creating the potential, by disrupting market activities, for drug users to consider entering treatment. However, respondents also argued that to successfully work alongside treatment services the police need to be able to show that they are not solely concerned with law enforcement, but that they are also interested in getting people into treatment. An example of how police could co-operate more productively with treatment provision emerged in the course of the research.
Current police policy in all three case-study areas requires them to be notified and to attend all cases of drug overdose where an ambulance has been called. Yet in England many areas have changed their protocols on the ambulance service response to an overdose call. In these areas, policies have been changed so that the police do not routinely attend ambulance callouts to overdose incidents unless there has been a death, a child is at risk or the ambulance crew perceive themselves to be at risk.
The National Treatment Agency has recently reviewed this requirement, suggesting that those commissioning drug services develop:
"Protocols on dealing with overdose incidents for local ambulance services, police and control room staff. These protocols clearly specify when it is, and is not, appropriate for the police to be called to overdose incidents. Overdose incidents should be prioritised as health emergencies and the police should not routinely attend. When such protocols are in place, it is essential that the policy is effectively communicated to the community at risk - especially when this represents a change in practice." 30
Police, the community and treatment
The Tower Project in Blackpool has shown how effective concerted action between police and treatment agencies can be, with measured decreases in crime and increased access to treatment provision 31. The targeting of known dealers and users, concentrating on market disruption rather than supply reduction, also instils confidence in a local community that can now see that the police are taking the situation seriously.
This and other work conducted by RSDC32 lends emphasis to the importance of a concerted approach, involving police, treatment services and residents in responding to drug availability within a community. A joined-up approach involving policing that is high visibility and grounded in the community, involving the development of treatment provision that is accessible, timely and responsive, and underpinned by a process of community regeneration can both tackle drugs and reduce crime.