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Services for drug addicts in Wales are grossly inadequate and the lack of treatment available is leading to more drug-related crime, delegates at the Welsh Local Government Association annual conference heard last week.

Chief constable of north Wales police, Richard Brunstrom, told the conference in Llandudno that arresting drug users was not the answer to stemming the "tidal wave" of crime linked to illegal drug use.

He said research showed that treatment worked, but that provision for users was "grossly inadequate", and that there was too much emphasis on enforcement.

Brunstrom added that the situation was not helped by lack of leadership and organisation from the Welsh assembly, which he believed had a "duty and right" to implement effective strategies to help treat the estimated 10,000 drug addicts in Wales.

"It is relatively easy for the police to arrest drug users, but we cannot target everyone and there is no possibility of containing the drugs trade. We have to work on education and treatment programmes," he said.

Brunstrom told the conference that his own police authority was already spending some of its budget on helping addicts kick their habit, and called for much more joint working across agencies to tackle the problem.

"We need a seamless process that is shared across agencies with joint commissioning and effective prioritisation, with bold and courageous decisions taken where people are brave enough to spend money on other people’s problems," he said.

In an answer to a question on the link between crime and illegal drug use, Brunstrom said that, under tightly controlled circumstances, those who were "hopelessly addicted" could be prescribed heroin so that they would not commit crime to fund their habit.

Lynda Thorne, deputy spokesperson on community safety at the WLGA, said it was important to make the connection between drugs, crime and poverty, and that tackling illegal drugs meant addressing deprivation and promoting social inclusion.