UK Jobseekers who reject help for alcohol and drug addiction face benefits cut

<p>Unemployed people suspected of suffering from alcoholism or drug addiction will have their benefits cut if they refuse treatment for their condition, the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, will signal on Wednesday. In a sign of the government's new benefits regime, which lies at the heart of Duncan Smith's cost-cutting welfare changes, staff in Jobcentre Plus offices will be encouraged to cut the jobseeker's allowance of claimants who reject treatment for addiction. The new rules will come into place in October 2013 when the universal credit, which is designed to wrap benefits into one payment, is introduced. A new claimant contract lies at the heart of the universal credit reforms. Claimants will have to sign a contract in which they agree to look for work in exchange for an undertaking from the government to support them while they do so. Government sources said the contract would allow Jobcentre Plus staff to say that a suspected addict is in breach of their commitments if they refuse help for alcoholism or drug addiction. Duncan Smith will give a flavour of the new rules when he addresses an event in parliament organised by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). He will say: "The outdated benefits system fails to get people off drugs and put their lives on track. We have started changing how addicts are supported, but we must go further to actively take on the devastation that drugs and alcohol can cause. "Under universal credit we want to do more to encourage and support claimants into rehabilitation for addiction and starting them on the road to recovery and eventually work. Getting people into work and encouraging independence is our ultimate goal. Universal credit will put people on a journey towards a sustainable recovery so they are better placed to look for work in future and we will be outlining our plans shortly." It is understood that the work and pensions secretary will not make a formal announcement on Wednesday of the powers that will be handed to Jobcentre Plus staff. Duncan Smith wants to use the event to focus on what he regards as the positive work AA does in helping to treat alcoholism. A government source said: "Iain wants to focus on the brilliant work Alcoholics Anonymous does in changing people's lives. He really wants to encourage people who have drink problems to go to AA for treatment. It will transform their lives and will help them into work." The source said Duncan Smith believes it is right to give jobcentre staff powers to cut benefits if an addict refuses treatment because they can detect signs of trouble. The source said: "The universal credit will allow staff in Jobcentre Plus offices to say: this person has been unemployed for some time. The staff know if people are addicted to alcohol. They know the people they are dealing with. "But we want this to be positive and to be about signposting people to superb organisations that can help them. This is about changing their lives. It is very important to support addicts into the workplace." But if claimants refuse they will have their benefits docked. "There will be sanctions," the source said, citing cuts to the jobseeker's allowance as an example. Ministers believe that one indicator Jobcentre Plus staff can use to see whether a claimant is an addict is the amount of times they apply for a crisis loan. "If you are applying for that up to 10 times a year then that is a sign of a chaotic life," one source said. Analysis by the Department of Work and Pensions shows that almost 40,000 people claim incapacity benefit with alcoholism declared as their "primary diagnosis". Of these, 13,500 have been claiming for a decade or more. There are about 160,000 "dependent drinkers" in England who receive one or more of the main benefits. There are 1m violent crimes a year that are related to alcoholism and 1.2m admissions to hospitals a year related to alcoholism. Universal credit is the most important element of Duncan Smith's welfare reforms, developed during his years in opposition through his Centre for Social Justice, which is designed to achieve his central goal of encouraging people into work. It will integrate tax credits and out-of-work benefits into one payment, with the aim of smoothing the transition to work. Labour has given the universal credit a cautious welcome, though it has taken issue with the scale of benefit cuts. Lord Low of Dalston, the vice-president of the Royal National Institute of Blind People who sits as a crossbencher, told peers this year: "Though it has some very sensible and progressive things at its core, in the shape of the universal credit, nevertheless it goes too far to most people's consciences in the way in which it takes vital support away from some of the most needy in our society."</p>

UK Jobseekers who reject help for alcohol and drug addiction face benefits cut

Unemployed people suspected of suffering from alcoholism or drug addiction will have their benefits cut if they refuse treatment for their c...

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Busting the Myths of Nicotine Replacement Therapy

<p>Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) has grown into an $800-million-a-year industry in the US, and last year absorbed $13 million of New Zealand taxpayers’ money in government subsidies as part of the fight against tobacco. This is despite a recent five-year study by the Harvard School of Public Health that reports NRT has no lasting benefit for smokers trying to quit the habit, and is no more effective in helping people quit smoking over the long term than using willpower alone. The study goes a step further to report that heavy smokers who used NRT without counseling were twice as likely to relapse as heavy smokers who did not use NRT products to quit smoking. “Nicotine patches, gums and lozenges do not break a smoker’s addiction to nicotine,” says Allen Carr stop smoking therapist, Vickie Macrae. “Cigarettes are essentially a package for nicotine delivery. NRT products do the same thing, just in different packaging.” That’s an important message in the lead-up to World No Tobacco Day this 31 May as smokers search for effective solutions to quit the habit for good. “NRT products are not a magic pill,” says Macrae. “Physically, smokers are in nicotine withdrawal every night in their sleep, but it doesn’t cause pain or even wake you up. The real struggle going on is the mental tug-of-war that comes with quitting. There’s no way on the planet that a patch, pill or piece of gum can remove that.” Vickie explains that to successfully quit smoking, addicts must adopt a psychological approach that addresses not only the physical addiction to nicotine, but also the mental and emotional addiction to smoking. “If you ask 10 different people why they smoke, they’ll come up with 10 different answers... Often people say that smoking relieves stress without realising that it’s nicotine that causes all those spikes and troughs in your mood in the first place.” “To break the addiction you must address that mental tug-of-war between what you want to do, think you should do, but believe you can’t do. That’s what causes the fear, panic and anxiety that smokers go through when quitting, and there’s no quick-fix patch or piece of gum for that.” “To quit successfully, people first need to disregard everything they’ve been told about quitting smoking,” says Macrae. “Contrary to popular belief, quitting smoking is not hard if you know the right way to do it.”</p>

Busting the Myths of Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) has grown into an $800-million-a-year industry in the US, and last year absorbed $13 million of New Zeala...

Read more »