A GWENT police officer welcomed a report from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) calling for heroin and cocaine addicts to receive treatment, not prosecution.

But Detective Constable Bernie Collins, Gwent police's drugs education officer, has called for more funding to be made available in a bid to improve the county's ailing drug treatement faciltiies.

A special report by the Argus in March revealed the lack of treatment facilities was having a direct impact on crime levels in Gwent.

We revealed how drug-related crimes such as shoplifting and burglary were on the rise in Newport, despite a shortage in the availablilty of heroin, because addicts could not get treatment to fight their addictions.

The ACPO report published yesterday says it looks forward to the time when those who appear in court for misuse of Class A drugs have immediate access to treatment, sometimes as a real alternative to a caution or conviction.

DC Collins said: "In Gwent we have already started down that road with the introduction of drug treatment and testing orders.

"We are proactive with our arrest referral scheme which sees all people who are arrested given the chance to speak to a drugs or alcohol counsellor.

"The problem in Gwent is that the treatment is not available at the moment with waiting lists of anything up to ten months.

"What we need is more funding for treatment." Roger Howard, chief executive of the charity Drugscope, a research and drugs policy advisory body, said the report came as no surprise.

"ACPO has been moving in this direction for some time now and I welcome the news," he said.

"We strongly support efforts to get drug users quickly into treatment rather than using a prosecution and pressing criminal charges.

"It is something Drugscope has already recommended to the Home Affairs committee. "This is a new and welcome departure in how we respond to the heavy end drug users. "I have not seen the report yet but it comes as no surprise.

"The police are recognising that treatment works rather than just processing addicts through the courts."