This short report has been produced as part of a wider review seeking to pull together the available information on the impact of illicit drugs on a number of diverse minority groups: ethnic minority groups; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; and disabled people. This wider review has considered the impact of drugs from a number of perspectives:
• The extent and nature of drug use within groups;
• Their need for and access to treatment and prevention programmes; and
• The impact of drug markets on different groups and interaction with the police and the criminal justice system associated with drugs.

The core of that review has been a series of reviews of the literature commissioned from the Office for Public Management (OPM) with funding from the Home Office which are published alongside this report. The government, local partnerships, commissioners and service providers have tried to address the challenges of a range of diverse groups over the years. Diversity legislation requires consideration to be given to the needs of a range of minority groups in the provision of services and for drug treatment. The National Treatment Agency (NTA) has published guidance for commissioners and services and also collects data to monitor provision for some groups (NTA, 2007). This report pulls together information relating to ethnicity and treatment services from a range of these sources as background to the wider evidence review.