THE NUMBER of heroin and crack cocaine addicts in Swindon has reached 1,359 — but less than half of them are receiving treatment.

The town’s Community Safety Partnership’s Adult Drug Treatment Plan for this year and next estimates 46 per cent of Swindon’s heroin and crack problem drug users have never been in contact with agencies.

However, the number of addicts getting help has grown from 478 in March last year to 631 this March, according to Richard Palusinski, head of the Swindon Community Safety Partnership.

He said: “Problem drug users are people who cannot manage their own intake – their addiction is controlling their lives.

“At the serious end you are talking about people going out to steal goods and money so they can buy their next fix. This is why treatment is so important because some chaotic drug users are breaking into cars and homes.

“It also leads to street dealing and drug paraphernalia being left around. If they continue in their chaotic drug taking, they could end up killing themselves.”

More than two thirds (73 per cent) of the town’s problem drug users are men while 27 per cent are women.

It is also estimated 37 per cent of the addicts are parents, with nearly a fifth having children living with them.

It is estimated there are 713 people hooked on crack in the town.

Overall, the number of problem drug users in Swindon has gone up slightly from 1,309 in 2007 to 1,359 this year.

That compares with 1,046 serious drug addicts in Oxford. The Oxfordshire Drug and Alcohol Action Team said there were said there were 1,975 problem drugs users in the county of Oxfordshire – with 53 per cent in the city of Oxford, according to the city’s Adult Drug Treatment Plan 2007/08. Mr Palusinski said talking to service users was one of the ways agencies were managing to improve treatment in the town. Drug workers consult with the Swindon Service Users Forum (SSURF).

He said: “Unless we talk to those people who are affected by our decisions – how do we know they are the right decisions?

“It is a challenge trying to get drug users into treatment.

“Until someone recognises they need treatment it can be quite a battle. They must understand they need help and there is meaningful help available to them. We have been improving the number of people engaging in treatment.”