On the question of helping drug addicts posed in last week’s edition Durham Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner, Ron Hogg, said “I have asked our local public health departments to suggest a series of options which would enable us to introduce Heroin Assisted Treatment in the Durham area. The aim would be to enable people who have become addicted to heroin to follow a programme that would stabilise their addiction in a controlled environment, and reduce their dependency on heroin until they stop taking it. They would also follow a conventional drug addict support programme.” “The aim of the initiative is to save the lives of addicts, shut down drug dealers and reduce acquisitive crime. Instead of stealing in order to fund their habit, and money flowing into organised crime gangs, addicts will be helped to recover. The costs associated with it would be saved through reduced costs in the longer term to the courts, prisons, the police, and wider society.”