Is your Drugs Policy fit for purpose?

I've been doing a lot of work lately reviewing organisation drugs policies. Some of these have been big organisations, some small. But a clear issue to emerge is the difficulty organisations still seem to be having in writing their Drugs Policies and the accompanying procedures.
The problems seem to fall in to three main groups:

1: No policy: I remain astonished that so many organisations still don't have drugs policies at all. It's almost fifteen years now since the Wintercomfort trial which saw senior Day Centre staff in Cambridge prosecuted for offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act, and this case should have ensured that every organisation engaging with people who use controlled drugs would have a workable policy in place. But this isn't the case. And the worst offenders? Local Authorities! On numerous training sessions, the social housing providers and day centres tend to have a drugs policy, but the Local Authority staff don't. All too often, the explanation is that the Local Authority has a "zero tolerance" approach to drugs and this is meant to form the basis of the drugs policy. Which leads on to...

2: Unworkable policy: where policy is in place, all too often it is so keen to demonstrate its anti-drug credentials, that it introduces unworkable clauses that are wholly unrealistic. These policies, if implemented, would see Police being called out for any suspicion of drug activity, and empty buildings where transgressors had been evicted. In truth such policies are never adhered to, leaving a void of confusion where staff, managers and residents interpret their policies as they see fit.

3: Mismatched Policies: sometimes, the policy itself is fine - but is at odds with the organisation's stated aims. All too often an organisation which should be working in an accessible and flexible way with homeless drug users has a robsutly zero tolerance policy which drives drug use underground or sees people being evicted - the very people the organisation is seeking to house.

The problems organisations have with their drugs policies are going to be compounded at present by the financial climate and funding cuts. To provide safe, supportive housing in an average sized hostel with people with significant drug related need, higer staffing levels are essential. Realistically three members of staff should be on shift at all times - less than this makes it hard to manage a crisis safely. One member of staff to tend casualty, one to go and summon help and admit emergency services and one to ensure that the rest of the building and residents are safe. Less than this is an accident waiting to happen. And "less than this" will increasingly become the norm.

Low staffing levels are likely to be worsened by under-trained staff. As budgets are slashed,. so is staff training and so organisations are likely to reduce the amount and quality of staff training which leaves both staff and residents at risk.

This is all happening at a time where, as part of the BS (Big Society, but interpret as you see fit), we are likely to see more wholly-volunteer run provision for the growing homeless population - including drop-in provision and nightshelters. While such provision my represent a much-needed response in areas of high need and low provision it brings its own risks. The well-meaning, but undertrained and under-resourced provision can become unsafe. Again, it is imperative that such provisionhas suitable training and policy in place so that it can run both safely and lawfully. The spectre of Wintercomfort hangs over provision that fails to do so.

There is one more factor that may drive some organisations towards ill-considered and mismatched policies. This is the increasingly common elision of "recovery" and "abstinence" and the proposal in the new Government drug strategy that housing provision for drug users should, along with treatment providers, increasingly receive payment by results.

The need for suitable and stable housing, with appropriate support, represents a critical aspect of the recovery journey. A lack of housing, or the wrong housing can make it much harder for people to start and sustain the process of change. BUT, and it's a big but, refusing housing to people who are not yet abstinent, or returning people to homelessness when they lapse is not beneficial.

Let's be clear: there is a need for housing which is wholly drug free and has minimal tolerance to drugs. This housing is urgently needed for people who are in recovery and abstinent and are striving to remain so. In such cases a minimal tolerance drugs policy would be wholly in accordance with the organisations aims. But where the primary aim is to provide housing to people who are homeless, and who may also use drugs, such a policy is misplaced. Organisations can and should support and nurture and aspire to the prospect of change and as this happens move people in to appropriate housing. But to use the threat of eviction to stimulate the process of changed hasn't been demonstrated to work. It just drives use underground, increases overdoses and hampers honest dialogue regarding use.

Given all these challenges and problems besetting housing providers working with drug users, it seems an opportune moment for us to relaunch the Sample Drugs Policy - a document that was originally written after the Wintercomfort Trial and has been revised regularly since then. This version - the seventh - is substantially rewritten with a longer introduction about how to develop a drugs policy. There are some more extensive procedures and flowcharts to help understand how to implement policy.

This version of the Policy is unashamedly a "high tolerance" model, aimed at organisations working with ongoing users. It will shortly be joined by other models - a moderate tolerance, low tolerance, and minimal tolerance version for use in different settings.

The development of this version has been much assisted by Homeless Link, and by Stoke On Trent Supporting People, without whom this revision wouldn't have seen the light of day.

The Sample Drugs Policy 2011 can be downloaded here