ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the referral schemes in Trafford, Merseyside and Southwark, the first and the third mostly on the basis of reports on those schemes. It presents a relatively brief account from two people arrested by the police. In the late 1980s a two year project focusing on ‘problem drug users in the criminal justice system’ operated in the Trafford area of Manchester. A joint effort between various local agencies, principally the Trafford Community Drugs Team (CDT), the Lifeline Project and the Greater Manchester Police, its core was an arrest referral contact leaflet giving details of the services offered by the Trafford CDT. The Mersey area has become internationally renowned for its approach to drugs and drug users, involving measures taken by the police, the health authority and local drugs advice agencies. Probably the best known of all the referral schemes is the Arrest Referral Project in Southwark, south London.
