Ministers have been accused of “squandering” £1.6bn a year after an official analysis of the Government’s drug strategy concluded that illegal drugs remain widely available on the streets of Britain, with little impact made since 2010.
The audit adds - due to a lack of robust evidence available - that officials are unable to assess whether capture and punishment serves as a deterrent for drug use in the UK.
The report, published last month, claims that despite extensive resources being used to tackle drug use, consumption has remained stable since Theresa May introduced the Government’s strategy in 2010 while Home Secretary.
It estimated that expenditure on enforcement activities in the financial year 2014-2015 was £1.6bn.
“Since the beginning of the strategy drug use among adults and young adults in the general population in England and Wales has remained stable,” the report adds. “The use of any illicit drug in the last year among all adults was 8.5 per cent in 2009/10 and 8.6 per cent in 2014/15”.
