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1 Sep, 2013

UK is the ‘addiction capital of Europe’ report claims – The Independent

The UK is the “addiction capital of Europe”, with some of its highest rates of opiate addiction and dependence on alcohol, a major new report warns.

Alcohol and drug abuse costs the UK £21 billion and £15 billion respectively, and the crisis of increasing addiction is fuelling the breakdown of society, according to the think-tank The Centre for Social Justice CSJ.

The report also highlighted the spiralling rate of alcohol-related hospital admissions in England, which it says have doubled in a decade, and warns that Britain is facing “an epidemic of drink-related conditions”.

Christian Guy, director of the CSJ, said: “While our addiction problem damages the economy, it is the human consequences that present the real tragedy. “Drug and alcohol abuse fuels poverty and deprivation, leading to family breakdown and child neglect, homelessness, crime, debt and long-term worklessness.”

Read the rest: UK is the ‘addiction capital of Europe’ report claims  – The Independent.