The UK is coping with drug addiction.

Main findings
Trends in young people’s treatment numbers
There were 11,326 young people (people under the age of 18) in contact with alcohol and drug services between April 2021 and March 2022. This is a 3% increase from the previous year (11,013) but a 54% reduction in the number of treatments from 2008 to 2009 (24,494).
Trends in young people’s substance use
Cannabis remains the most common substance (87%) that young people come to treatment for.
Around half of young people in treatment (46%) said they had problems with alcohol, 8% had problems with ecstasy and 8% reported powder cocaine problems.
The proportion of young people seeking help for codeine is lower than last year, falling by 0.3% (1.2% compared to 0.9% this year). People seeking help for heroin was very similar to last year (0.35% compared to 0.33% this year).
This year also saw a small decrease in young people reporting a problem with benzodiazepines. However, the proportion (3%) was over 4 times the proportion in 2013 to 2014 (0.7%).
Vulnerabilities among young people in treatment
The most common vulnerability reported by young people starting treatment was early onset of substance use (80%), which means the young person started using substances before the age of 15. This was followed by polydrug use (55%).
Proportionally, girls tended to report more vulnerabilities than boys, particularly self-harming behaviour (46% compared with 17%) and sexual exploitation (10% compared with 1.5%).
Mental health treatment need
Nearly half (46%) of young people starting treatment this year said they had a mental health treatment need, which continues the rising trend of the last 3 years (43% in 2020 to 2021, 37% in 2019 to 2020 and 32% in 2018 to 2019). A higher proportion of girls reported a mental health treatment need than boys (60% compared to 38%).
Most young people (69%) who had mental health treatment need to receive some form of treatment, usually from a community mental health team.
Treatment exits
Of the young people who left treatment, 82% left because they completed their treatment programme, which is slightly higher than the previous year’s proportion (79%). The next most common reason for leaving treatment (12%) was dropping out before they completed treatment, which is slightly lower than the previous year (15%).
The effect of COVID-19
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a lingering effect on drug and alcohol treatment services, as it has other services. From 2020 to 2021, most services had to restrict face-to-face contact, which affected the types of interventions that service users received. This, and other changes to service provision during the pandemic, may have affected the data in last year’s report.
COVID-19-related restrictions were still in place in early April 2021, but these began to be gradually relaxed until almost all restrictions were lifted in July 2021. However, COVID-19 had a continued effect on services throughout 2021 to 2022. Effects included:
service users testing positive for COVID-19 and not being able to access treatment
staff testing positive and not being able to go to work
service users and staff getting ill with COVID-19
the above and other factors causing longer waits and reduced access to healthcare
So, like 2020 to 2021, the restrictions and COVID-19 itself might have affected the data in this report.

Gptchat answer:

The UK is addressing drug addiction through a combination of policies and initiatives aimed at prevention, treatment, and harm reduction.

### Key Strategies:

1. **Public Health Approach:**

   - Focus on treating addiction as a health issue rather than solely a criminal one.

   - Investment in treatment services and rehabilitation programs.

2. **Harm Reduction:**

   - Distribution of clean needles and opioid substitution therapy.

   - Establishment of drug consumption rooms in some areas to reduce overdose deaths.

3. **Education and Prevention:**

   - Campaigns to raise awareness about the dangers of drug use.

   - Programs targeting youth to prevent initiation into drug use.

4. **Law Enforcement:**

   - Targeting organized crime and drug trafficking networks.

   - Efforts to reduce the supply of illegal drugs.

5. **Support Services:**

   - Expansion of mental health services to address underlying issues contributing to addiction.

   - Community support programs to assist with social reintegration.

The government and various organizations continue to adapt these strategies in response to emerging trends and challenges.