Benefits for drug addicts - ? to be stopped?

Question

Does anybody think this is a good idea!

How then will drug addicts get their money, they I assume, will steal or prostitute themselves or be involved in other crimes to get money. How will this targeting help?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080227/tuk-uk-britain-drugs-fa6b408_2.html

Answer 1

I think they are saying benefits will be cut not stopped completely.I dont know if this is right but something needs to be done and with councelling and medication its possible to come off drugs and sort out your life and if people are unwilling to get help why should we financially support them?

Answer 2

I'm stunned at this question. Do you honestly think that drug addicts are getting their fix by paying for drugs with their benefits? If a guy is spending just dole money on drugs then he can hardly be classed an addict.

Answer 3

I think this is a monumentally near- sighted approach to a complex problem. Whoever thought up this plan need to take a good hard look at the causes and consequences of drug misuse in communities. It is clear that they have never lived in an area where drug abuse is widespread or even cared to investigate.

People do not stop taking drugs because they have no money.

They seek help for it when they are committed in their own minds to doing so.

If an addict needs money, they find it. Be that from prostitution, theft or petty dealing. Cutting benefits will not stop any of those things happening. Neither will a job on minimum wage fund a £400 a week crack habit.

When a rehab place can be offered to every addict, when they need it- in their community, then maybe ...just maybe cutting benefits to pay for it  could be considerable.

There are not enough affordable drug program places for people to go who want the help, much less places for those who need the help.

So yes...this idea fails, massively in my opinion.

Answer 4

Stop their benifits, put them in a room let them go cold turkey,

least while they going cold turkey they will not be going out and mugging, murdering or robbing some elderly pensioner drawing their pension.

Answer 5

i dont think thats a good idea drug addicts will go to whatever length they have to to feed there fix ,it will just mean that the average person will end up suffering through crime

Answer 6

yes - they should be working to pay for their habit not expecting the rest of us to fund their habit through out hard earned taxes.

Answer 7

This is a ludicrous idea! Where are all these addicts going to go for rehabilitation? There are very few facilities, and of those, none are being given any significant level of funding or support.

This is a knee-jerk response that panders to the "whip them, hang them" brigade. Not what one would expect from an "allegedly" socialist government.

I was a heroin addict when I was younger. I experienced cold turkey several times because when you went to jail they didn't give you medication in those days. It didn't stop me going back to it.

I came off heroin when I had reached my rock bottom. I did it successsfully because it was my decision, arrived at in response to my own experiences and desires.

This government needs to support the creation of centres that can help people make those decisions, and then support them through the process.

Answer 8

yes I do , it would either get them off drugs or get them put away off the streets.

Answer 9

Totally agree, i think this sort of thing is only going to raise crime figures and make addicts resort to even more desperate measures to get there money. The thing is at the moment the majority of crime ie burglary, theft and shoplifting is drug related and the prisons are over flowing with offenders that are there for drug related crime, i cant rememeber but i think the figures are somewhere around 80% of prisoners having a drug related issue. If this kind of policy is allowed to go ahead then it is only going to increase the prison figures, crime and fear of crime and create more moral panic on a society that is already over run by anxiety created in the media. What is needed is a proper review of the benefits of decriminalising hard drugs and providing addicts with the opportunity to get into treatment without being forced into treatments that they are not ready for or are just a supplement for an already chaotic lifestyle. Forcing people to change does not work, what you have to do is provide them with the information so that they can make the choice for themselves, to make positive changes to their lifestyles.

Answer 10

I guess the government just wants to cut back on the huge Benefits bill.  Have you any idea how much of tax payers money goes on benefits?  I haven't, but I expect its loads, along with the single teenage mothers and other sorts who lead a-typical lives.  I'm being logical here by the way, I'm not a Daily Mail reader, but I do believe something has to give !

Answer 11

If they refuse treatment then yes, they should get their benefit stopped. Why the h**l should I work 50+hours per week and pay thousands of pounds in taxes per year so scum like that can sit around all day being paid to do nothing?

If they turn to crime then they should do the time.

Answer 12

I suppose they could go to work. The same DLA is payed to alcoholics. But though that is an addiction to, in fact more so, read the research. You never hear the argument that alcies rob to feed their habit, which isn't cheap.

Why don't we pay everone, that'll stop crime!

Answer 13

I think that this is a great idea as the benefits given to these people actually end up being spent on drugs .

The tax payers are paying to fund someones habit .The government give this money and it is a vicious circle.

A vast majority of addicts have major habits and use other methods to fund their habits and to be honest the benefits which they receive are a drop in the ocean to the real cost of their habits.

This targeting will enable people who have become lost in the system to become noticed .

Whilst this method will cost the government more money in the long run .. IE programmes .. surely it has to be better then just handing money out .

Many addicts will be forced to address their issues and seek professional help which is a good thing and by doing this the government will be able to remove people from our over stretched benefits system and hopefully move them into the right direction and seek help to combat their addiction