FEAD - Film Exchange on Alcohol & Drugs

 Extract

In the years from 1971 to 1985, Lifeline went from being a child of the counter culture to becoming almost indistinguishable from counterparts in the statutory drugs treatment sector. A view of the early years are captured and described in Rowdy Yates' (1992)  book ('If it Weren't for the Alligators’).

The advent of brown powder heroin, and its 1980s epidemic use amongst clusters of young unemployed working class men and women, saw the government of the day launch the Central Funding Initiative (CFI). The CFI followed closely on the heels of the ACMD’s ‘Treatment’ report in 1982. The ACMD’s ‘Treatment’ report contained the definition of a problem drug taker. This taught us that psycholgical, legal and social problems were as important as physical problems in relation to drug misuse. The CFI monies and the agencies that emerged as a result now make up a major part of the contemporary British Drug Treatment System.

In the north-west, and in Greater Manchester in particular, this multi-factorial definition of a problem drug taker led to the establishment of Community Drug Teams (CDTs).