Recommendation 34

The Drug Strategy already provides strong support for harm reduction approaches and expansion of measures to reduce drug use. We recognise that a system wide approach is required to deliver interventions that support those caught up in county lines exploitation. The County Lines Programme forces (Metropolitan Police Service, Merseyside Police, West Midlands Police, Greater Manchester Police) take a holistic approach to tackling county lines, to not only pursue line holders but also work with partners to raise awareness of county lines exploitation, prevent vulnerable individuals from becoming involved in county lines and help those that already are to safely exit their involvement. This approach also seeks to reduce the harms associated with county lines, such as modern slavery, serious violence and homicide. Furthermore, as part of the Government’s Drug Strategy, we will be rolling out the Out of Court Disposal Drug Pilots to a small number of police force areas in England and Wales. The project will seek to expand use of Out of Court Disposals for eligible drug possession offences, while exploring how effective drug awareness courses can be in changing offender behaviour and on reoffending. We recommend that the Government work with local partners to link up drug treatment services for children and young people with exploitation services to ensure that they receive holistic support.