Communities Against Drugs
Too little, too late
Maurice Lean, the IWCA’s representative on the Leys Communities Against Drugs Steering Committee, explains why finding sustainable solutions to the crack and
heroin dealing problem will take a lot more than the limited, short-term funding currently being presented as the solution by New Labour.
‘Agencies target crack menace’ screamed the headline in the Oxford Mail (28 March 2003). At last! readers
may have thought, but only a year ago the IWCA was attacked by its critics for being ‘negative’ and ‘doing down the estate’ because it was the only organisation
prepared to even raise the issue.
Until recently the Labour councillors for Blackbird Leys refused to acknowledge the problem at all. Even the Oxford Mail thought we were out of line,
saying that we should leave things to the police (‘The right way to do it’, 1 July 2002).
If we were out of line with that way of thinking we were well ‘in line’ with the overwhelming feelings of local people, who identified the issue as their most
pressing concern in the IWCA ‘Your Point of View’ survey. While others sought to brush the issue under the carpet, the IWCA has succeeded in dragging it into the
public arena through consultation, open meetings and pressure on the relevant authorities.
Puppets on a string
Given the former attitude of New Labour to the drugs issue it is clear that it was the election results in the Blackbird Leys and Northfield Brook wards that have
spurred them into action, or at least the appearance of action. Within months of those results we saw the introduction of a local initiative that is being ‘steered’
by local agencies, professionals and academics.
Since New Labour has virtually no active membership on Blackbird Leys it has effectively co-opted these agencies and their employees as its own, to deliver what
will no doubt become a manifesto pledge at the next election (there is no way it can be described as an existing pledge since they made no reference to the issue at
the last election). Local agencies are being treated as puppets on a string to bolster New Labour’s image and reverse its declining fortunes in the area. It is
vital that all of us, including the agencies themselves, recognise this.
The Leys Communities Against Drugs (CAD) initiative seeks to devise an action plan to tackle the problem involving, as the Oxford Mail puts it, ‘all sorts of
agencies’. This is tantamount to admitting that the government’s war on drugs policy, which treats the problem primarily as an issue of law and order, has been a
failure and that a different approach is desperately needed.
Acknowledging, however, that combating drug-related problems must be spearheaded by such agencies as health and education authorities brings with it awkward
questions about resources. Initiatives to tackle the demand side of the drug equation, as these agencies would do, are notoriously more expensive than those that deal
with the supply, i.e. the dealers. Not only must they deal with the problem at the moment; to be effective they must address the issue over the long term. And all this
while operating in an economic and social environment which has starved communities of resources for decades.
A drop in the ocean
What does the government offer? Well the Oxford Mail correctly points out that Oxford is 37th in a national table of crack usage. Unfortunately, only the
top 30 qualify for special funding to deal with the problem. Oxford, in total, received £171,000 under the Communities Against Drugs initiative, of which £11,000 has
been allocated for drawing up the Leys CAD action plan and on top of this a further award of £30,000 has gone to Blackbird Leys. Add several noughts to those figures,
as well as a long-term commitment, and we might be getting started!
In reality, the Communities Against Drugs funding programme, which New Labour is parading as its response to the massive problems caused by drugs nationally, is
just a drop in the ocean.
The IWCA echoes calls made by local agencies for greater resources for youth provision, rehab facilities and counselling but we are not holding our breath waiting
for their delivery—in fact we are already seeing cutbacks to services such as outreach facilities that the Leys CAD consultation process is identifying as crucial.
However, we also call for resources to turn back the decades of under-investment in working class communities that has contributed to the problems we now face, though
we won’t be holding our breath here either.
The role of the community in combating the negative effects of drug use is being increasingly highlighted by various agencies. Usually this role is a subordinate,
supportive one but as it becomes clear that resources from central government are not forthcoming that role will, by necessity, become all the more central to a
sustainable approach to tackling the issue of drugs.
Leys Independent, issue 18, June 2003
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