Drug Harm Index objectives

The Drug Harm Index will help Police and partner agencies to:

• Quantify drug related costs. This will identify how expensive the problem is, identify where avoidable costs lie, and what can be done to minimise them.
• Contribute to knowledge about the balance of investment between drug demand reduction and drug supply reduction initiatives.
• Better gauge the cost-effectiveness of drug supply reduction efforts.
• Improve multi-agency and cross-sector approaches, encourage consensus about the value of certain types of interventions, and identify opportunities for synergies between interventions.
• Benchmark against overseas jurisdictions, particularly Australia, and begin to track New Zealand’s progress over time.

View the BERL Drug Harm Index report at www.berl.co.nz