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Drug addicts gifted Toon tickets


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Drug addicts are being given tickets to Premiership football matches to help them on the road to recovery.

 

Newcastle United has been gifting tickets from four season tickets to Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (DAAT) throughout the North East of England.

 

The drug users are accompanied to the games at St James' Park by their support workers.

 

North East MEP Martin Callanan has criticised the scheme, saying it "rewards" illegal behaviour.

 

The Conservative member said: "What about people who didn't get into trouble in the first place, who live their lives, work hard and pay their taxes?

 

"It's like these schemes the local authorities come up with to send young criminals on outward bound course.

 

"It's rewarding bad behaviour when we should be rewarding well-behaved youngsters."

 

The Government Office for the North East has helped the club distribute the tickets for more than 10 years.

 

A spokesman for the office said they were given to those who had shown a "genuine commitment" to tackle their substance abuse.

 

He said: "The tickets are provided on the understanding that they are used, as part of a package of measures, to particularly help young people who have had substance misuse problems, and are making clear progress and showing a genuine commitment to living a normal, structured life.

 

"We thank the club for this generous gesture that goes a long way towards re-introducing people to a structured way of life."

 

Martin Callanan has just been on five live whining about it. Tosser. The club do some generous community outreach work and he slates them for it.

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As someone on N-O said, I'll just go out and kill someone should I? And get some free tickets to SJP. :aye:

 

chavtastic ;)

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Im might jack up before we play them away next season, might get one for nish ;)

 

Maybe its only the 10k or so that turned to drugs following the last season or so that are eligible for it. :aye:

 

10 years ago...must've been Dalglish turned them to drugs.

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It's four tickets.

 

Two for the support workers and two for the drugheads.

 

So really 2 drugheads. Out of 52k people.

 

And it's been happening for 10 years...

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It's four tickets.

 

Two for the support workers and two for the drugheads.

 

So really 2 drugheads. Out of 52k people.

 

And it's been happening for 10 years...

 

 

It's because it's on the back of the payouts for being made to go cold turkey that it's news at the moment.

 

 

I don't think it's a particularly bad idea, but I'm far from convinced it really in any effective way works, or indeed that there aren't a lot of other people more deserving of such things.

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I thought it was news because the Echo covered it, followed by incredibly lazy national papers, genuine news requiring effort and sane analysis.

 

Not sure which way around it came, but it's been given exposure in the national media because of this weeks ~£10,000 payouts to drug addicts that were made to go cold turkey in prison.

 

 

And I guess that £575,000 pay out to the "suicidal" prisoner in Northallerton prison last year.

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As long as it's part of a community programme that gives tickets various people who aren't able to get tickets (such as kids who have done nothing wrong but who just can't afford tickets) I'm all for it.

I would be disapointed if the only free tickets we give out are for drug adicts but I'm sure that's not the case.

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