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background - citizen's jury

Lewisham Council held a citizens' jury in April 1996; sixteen local residents spent four days together focussing on the theme of drugs and community safety.

The jury received a range of information on drugs and their effects, national and local government policies and treatment and education interventions. They also heard evidence from fifteen expert witnesses. The jury made a wide range of recommendations, some of which focussed on drug education. These included the need for a whole community approach to drug education which should include parents, youth workers, teachers, young people, local residents and business.

In response a drug education team was established and is co-ordinated by Lewisham Education and Community Services. It's called the Community Drug Education Project.

The project delivers drugs awareness in a wide variety of formats including leaflets and posters, theatre in education and training workshops. It commenced initially in the Brockley area in November 1997 and developing as a rolling programme to cover the whole of Lewisham by its completion in March 2001.

The project is supported in each area by local teams. A specialist advice team has been established to respond to concerns which emerge from the awareness raising programme.

The project is being externally evaluated by the Institute of Education.The findings will inform the project's development. Lessons emerging from this will be disseminated more widely.

 

Summary of recommendations made by the jury

1 Drugs Education - who should be involved ?

  • the whole community needs to be educated about drugs
  • drugs education is the responsibility of teachers, parents, youth workers, the police and the health service
  • a specialist team involving all of these groups should be created and co-ordinated to give drugs education
  • drug users and ex users also should be involved since their message often has greater impact
  • drugs education should be focused around schools and should start at primary school
  • more resources should be made available for teachers to attend drugs education courses

2 Drugs education - what should the message be ?

  • support for a 'harm reduction' approach
  • the 'just say no' message doesn't work - give young people the facts, teach them about the real dangers and allow them to make informed decisions.
  • the messages should always be consistent
  • eliminate the hypocrisy around legal drugs such as alcohol and cigarettes and illegal drugs, giving factual information on all drugs
  • media which appeal to young people should be used (such as CD ROM)
  • use sports and music stars to help make an impact

3 Drug - related crime

  • target suppliers rather than users especially suppliers of 'hard drugs'
  • maintain confidentiality and ensure protection of witnesses
  • extend arrest referral schemes (where people with problem drug use who are arrested are referred for treatment)
  • for arrested drug addicts, there should be minimum delay before assessment and referral for treatment

4 Treatment for problem drug users

  • widen treatment options, and test the prescription of drug of choice to addicts (such as prescribing heroin rather than methadone to heroin addicts)
  • more treatment options for non-opiate (especially crack) users
  • extension of counselling as a part of treatment
  • more resources for voluntary sector drug agencies
  • improved publicity of available services
  • a drug advice line
  • the importance of work opportunities in creating stability for people with problem drug use should be recognised

5 The wider issues

  • need to accept that drugs are here to stay and are now a cultural norm especially among young people
  • there is a link between drugs and crime - treatment and policing policies should take account of the effect on the community
  • the harm caused by legal and illegal drugs should be considered equally
  • 'soft drugs', especially cannabis, should be considered for decriminalisation/ legalisation

If you want to know more about Citizens' Juries, then get hold of these publications:

The Lewisham experience

Lewisham Citizens' Jury 1996: Information Pack available from Lewisham Council

The experience of the pilot projects, of which the Lewisham Citizens’ Jury was one

Local Government Management Board Citizens’ Juries in Local Government: Summary for the LGMB on pilot projects LGMB

Local Government Management Board Citizens’ Juries in Local Government: Report for the LGMB on pilot projects.