Drug addicts getting treatment should be given shopping vouchers to help them to tackle their problem, an NHS body has suggested.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said that the idea would be controversial but cost-effective.

International trials have shown that modest financial incentives can help hardened addicts to stay off drugs.

NICE said that there would also be a public health benefit because addicts could be screened for infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis.

Users would get vouchers worth up to £10 from NHS treatment programmes if tests showed that they were free of drugs.

The proposal is contained in draft guidance on how the NHS in England and Wales should handle drug misuse.

The guidelines also consider how to give addicts information about self-help groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, and how best to support families and carers.

Consultation on the idea is open until early March, with full guidance due to be issued to the NHS in July.

Professor Peter Littlejohns, the clinical and public health director at NICE, said: “The draft recommendations are based on the best available evidence on which psychosocial approaches work most effectively.

“A wide range of issues are covered by the draft guidance — the draft recommendations are not intended to be used in isolation but rather as a package of interventions to provide support for people trying to overcome their addiction.

“This draft guidance includes recommendations on incentive systems to encourage people misusing drugs to stay free from illicit substances, with proof provided by negative drugs tests.”

Martin Barnes, the chief executive of the charity DrugScope, broadly welcomed the proposals.

He said that the benefits to society of effective drug treatment would outweigh the cost of an incentive scheme.

But he emphasised that it must run alongside attempts to tackle the underlying reasons for people turning to drugs.

He said: “There is good evidence that the longer someone is engaged with drug treatment the better their outcome.

“The cost of vouchers will be modest compared to the benefits of more effective treatment.

“However, for treatment to be most effective the underlying factors contributing to problem drug use and relapses need to be tackled, not least decent housing, social support and routes to training and employment.”

Richard Phillips, director of services at Phoenix Futures, a drug and alcohol treatment charity, said that providing incentives to drug users could be controversial as many people would struggle to see how they deserved such help.

But he added: “If it works to keep people in treatment there would be considerable benefits to the public.

“The cost of a few sand-wiches is a small price to pay if it keeps more drug users on the path of recovery and off illegal drugs.”

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