Drug Use and Drug Dealing (including County Lines)
The use of County Lines to traffic drugs from urban areas into rural areas, causes significant issues for communities. County Lines activity often relies heavily on the Criminal Exploitation of vulnerable persons. The practice of ‘cuckooing’ is commonplace; where criminals take over a vulnerable person’s home (while the vulnerable person remains living there) and use that property for criminality. Victims are often people who misuse substances such as drugs or alcohol, but there are cases of victims with learning difficulties, mental health challenges, physical disabilities or who are socially isolated. The current (2021-22) local rate of drugs-specific offences (possession and trafficking; 1.0 per 1,000 population) has fallen over the last two years, and is below the national level (3.0 per 1,000 population), there are well evidenced links between drug use and offending. During 2021 around 38% of offenders within the probation service in Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent had needs relating to drug use with around 1 in 50 crimes in Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent considered to be drug-related. Health and Wellbeing Mental Health is a cross-cutting theme, with links to a range of other vulnerabilities. Many with mental health needs appear in other high-risk cohorts; including those with drug and/or alcohol challenges, those who are socially isolated and living in poor quality housing, as well as young people and adults at risk of criminal exploitation. As well as those with existing mental health conditions being at risk of experiencing crime, experiencing crime itself also exacerbates and can create considerable mental health challenges for individuals. Many types of crime are judged to pose a substantial or severe risk of psychological harm to individuals; in particular, but not limited to; domestic abuse, serious violent and sexual offences, stalking and harassment, hate crimes, and criminal exploitation. Also, the latest Public Health England (PHE) estimates for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent suggest that around 9.5% of children aged 5 to 16 years (approximately 14,060 children) are likely to have a common mental health disorder which is similar to the national level.
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