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On Thursday, BBC Bristol is hosting a web chat about the extent
of the drugs problem in the city.
Chris Vacher will be joined by guest Steve Otter, Avon and
Somerset Police's drugs coordinator and BBC Points West's
Steve Brodie, to answer your questions.
The
debate will follow a special edition of the BBC regional news
programme Points West which, for the first time, is entirely
dedicated to Bristol's drug problem and how to solve it.
The programme takes an in-depth look at how drugs affect Bristol
- some of the reports may surprise and shock you.
Are you affected by the city's drug problem? Are there any
realistic solutions to it? Do you worry about your children
taking drugs?
Here are some of the facts about the drugs problem in the
city.
l Almost 1% of Bristol's population
are heroin users.
l Some estimates suggest there
are more than 12,000 problematic drug users in the city.
l These people are thought to
consume about four tonnes of Class A drugs every year.
l To fund this habit, £22m worth
of crime is committed. This results in knock-on economic and
social costs of an estimated £136m.
l Violent, drug-related crime
in the city is rising.
l There are links between drugs
and the sex trade.
l A recent survey indicated
that 100% of the 160 known persistent beggars in Bristol were
also misusing drugs.
l Recreational drug-users in
the city number 25,000.
l 40% of users in treatment
in the South West are in Bristol: in 2001, 3,766 people sought
treatment through agencies in the city.
l There is still pressure on
detoxification places and current waiting times are outside
National Treatment Agency targets.
l Bristol has above-average
deaths from heroin/morphine or methadone, compared to figures
for England.
l There is also evidence of
a hepatitis epidemic, which is thought to be linked to intravenous
drug use.
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WATCH
AND LISTEN |
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Watch
Points West's Drugs: A Fatal Attraction
1830 GMT 26/02/2004 |
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