Stay off drugs, get a gift voucher

Incentives can be useful things, sometimes. Why, Westmonster doesn't know how our army of child-labour office cleaners would manage without their daily 5pm treat of an episode of Danger Mouse.

Public health minister Dawn Primarolo is all too aware of this (the importance of incentives, that is, not the weird stuff we just made up about illegal workers and 1980s cartoons). She's announced a US-inspired scheme to be run by the National Treatment Agency, which will ensure that problem drug users will be rewarded if they complete their 12-week rehab course.

Primarolo reckons that:

"This trial will investigate whether certain incentives will encourage drug users to re-establish their lives and stay off drugs."

What incentives are we looking at? Vouchers to the value of £200, which can be exchanged for money off utility bills, bus passes, evening classes or household items. An interesting approach, especially given recent proposals by some ministers that those who fail to complete their designated clinic treatments may face having their incapacity benefits slashed or jobseekers allowance snatched away.

The major snag? The scheme revolves around the drug users proving their cleanliness by supplying urine samples three times a week. Hmmm ... what's the betting a few of them have seen Withnail And I and are concocting dastardly piss-substituting plans as we speak?

Written by C J Davies on 13 Jun 2008 2:42 AM. Permalink