Drug treatment beats prison for cutting crime and addiction rates

Treating drug users who commit offences cuts crime rates more effectively than putting them in prison, according to an analysis of research in the United States and in England. Yet provision of drug treatment services is patchy, and treatment centres often have long waiting lists of users wanting help in breaking their habits, says the analysis from the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders in London.

A third of all thefts, burglaries, and …