AS official figures reveal drugs deaths have soared to record levels, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland, Barry Coppinger, outlines a scheme being piloted in Middlesbrough.

ENTRENCHED heroin dependency is a scourge across the UK which affects us all. It kills and destroys the lives of users and causes grief and misery to family and friends. The associated crime and behaviour impacts deeply on local businesses and residents and drains the resources of health, police and other public services.

Figures just released by the Office for National Statistics reveal 2018 saw nearly 3,000 deaths from illicit drugs in England and Wales, a rise of 17 per cent. At this rate such deaths will soon be double those of road fatalities. Of particular concern for this area is that the North-East has the highest death rate in the country.

Successive governments of all shades have tried and failed to tackle the problem and the only certainty is that if we keep locking people up without effective treatment, things will simply get worse.

Entrenched users will continue to fall prey to street heroin gangs, they will continue to commit crime to fund their addiction, they will continue to be caught, get locked up then released to commit further crime with the cycle continuing until they die, often homeless in the street.

Studies have shown that for many of these users their descent into heroin addiction began through no fault of their own, often following a traumatic childhood and an accumulation of further traumas throughout life. Heroin became the only escape from their living nightmare.

There is a better way. Of course, police must continue to relentlessly target dealers and in particular the drugs lords behind the trade. This must be coupled with new thinking as to how we divert young people from drugs and how we provide effective treatment for those already hooked.

This autumn an innovative Heroin Assisted Treatment pilot scheme overseen and part-funded by my office will commence in Middlesbrough. This treatment and recovery programme will see those struggling most with heroin use treated as patients. This cohort of 15 patients has been assessed as the greatest drain on public services, the most prolific offenders and the most entrenched users, for whom all other treatments have failed.

Treatment will see each patient assessed and agree to visit a clinic twice a day where prescribed medical heroin is administered in a safe environment. This removes the constant need of the user to get cash – often through crime, violence or prostitution - to buy street heroin. It also removes the severe health risks associated with street drugs.

Once the dependency on street heroin is removed, there is an opportunity for recovery. A chance for the patient to engage with other agencies including housing, public health, training and employment to get their lives back on track.

The HAT scheme has the backing of public health and criminal justice agencies and follows meticulous research and preparation by clinician Danny Ahmed and his team at Foundations medical practice. It has the approval of the Home Office and if successful, could potentially be rolled out nationally.

There are no guarantees and the scheme costs money, at a time when resources have never been scarcer for public services. The funding I have agreed is, though, a fraction of the current ongoing costs to society of drug addiction and the associated crime. It offers new hope that we can finally turn the tide against this relentless blight on communities across the North-East in particular and the UK as a whole.