A new alliance of drugs charities is urging the government to rethink its drugs policy.

The Drugs and Health Alliance (DHA) is calling for a new emphasis on health, harm reduction and tackling poverty and social exclusion when dealing with drugs.

It argues that the criminal justice-led policies of the last decade have not worked.

Launched in London today, the coalition also claims that voluntary sector organisations have been reluctant to criticise drug policy because they do not want to jeopardise their government funding.

Danny Kushlick, director of Transform Drug Policy Foundation and spokesperson for the DHA, said: "Ten years ago the government brought in an ex-police officer – Keith Hellawell – as drug tsar, to head up the UK drug strategy.

"A decade down the line, the evidence of the failure of our enforcement-led approach is all too apparent.

"The DHA is calling for the upcoming drug strategy to reallocate resources away from enforcement and towards a public health approach to drugs," he added.

The DHA is hoping to be included in the development of the government’s drugs policy that will cover the next ten years.