A long-term study of the outcomes of drug users leaving treatment

Around 200,000 people get help for drug dependency in England every year. Most are addicted to heroin or crack cocaine, or both. They will have been using their drug or drugs of dependency for eight years on average before they seek treatment.
Given their typical circumstances - heavily addicted, in poor health and of low self-esteem, often at a peak of criminal activity before coming into treatment - the prospects for long-term recovery from drug addiction can seem bleak. The medical consensus is that heroin and crack cocaine users take several years to overcome addiction, and spend repeated attempts in treatment before they do.
Against this background, the annual statistical reports of numbers in drug treatment can present a distorted picture of a treatment system that is subject to a steady ebb and flow of clients over a longer time frame. However the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) database is now extensive enough to enable us to follow the treatment careers of individuals over successive years.
Consequently the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) has analysed the long-term results for those who have been treated in one year, and found that nearly half (46%) of those who leave neither need further treatment, nor were they found to be involved in drug related offending.
In close co-operation with the Home Office, the NTA matched four years' worth of NDTMS data with Drug Test Records (DTR) and the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) data to evaluate the long-term outcomes of drug treatment for 41,475 clients who left drug treatment in England in the financial year 2005-06. It includes both those who left treatment in a planned way, and those who dropped out.
This is the first time a study of this kind has been possible. Although there is no international long-term equivalent study based on live client data, the results compare favourably with longitudinal studies about the prospects of individuals' recovery from even the most entrenched addiction.
As a treatment programme for addiction usually takes longer than a year to complete, these findings provide a more meaningful assessment of treatment effectiveness than an annual snapshot. It enhances our understanding of what success means: for example, it was found that many of those who "drop out" do not seem to need further treatment. Most importantly, it shows to users and all the people and agencies who work with them to bring about positive change that recovery from addiction is possible. [Author's abstract]