News alert / Illegal drugs harm
The National Audit office has published a report on progress tackling the distribution, sale and consumption of illegal drugs, which in 2021 caused the deaths of almost 3,000 people in England. The government estimates around three million people in England and Wales take illegal drugs, at a cost to society of about £20bn a year. The NAO report, Reducing the harm from illegal drugs, examines whether the government is on course to achieve the ambitions of its 10-year strategy launched in 2021.
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