About Project ADDER
Updated 7 April 2025
© Crown copyright 2025
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/project-adder/about-project-adder
About the programme
Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery) is a Home Office-led initiative that ran between Autumn 2020 and March 2025 to trail-blaze a whole-system response to combatting drug misuse in the 13 hardest hit areas across England and Wales.
With nearly half of all homicides and acquisitive crime linked to drugs, work to combat drug misuse has a key role to play in supporting the Government’s Safer Streets Mission and drive down anti-social behaviour and knife crime.
Through Project ADDER the Home Office injected funding into 13 police forces to establish a multi-agency partnership approach to tackle drug misuse and test innovative new approaches to reduce drug-related offending and drug deaths.
Originally intended to be a three-year initiative, the Home Office provided an additional two years of funding to support forces to build sustainability into their approach and secure local funding beyond the lifetime of the project. Many initiatives developed through Project ADDER therefore remain in place such as the London wide expansion operated by the Metropolitan Police.
Find more information about the programme including monitoring data.