Your shout!
DDN welcomes your Letters. Please email the editor or post them to DDN, CJ Wellings Ltd, Romney House, School Road, Ashford, Kent TN27 0LT. Letters...
Letters to the editor – June issue
Downward spiral
I applaud Ms Durjava’s sensitive and respectful study of heroin users in prison (DDN, May, page 6). Government drug strategies invariably talk negatively...
Got something to say about our latest issue?
Your views are welcome! Please email your letter to the editor to be published in our next issue, using letter for publication as the...
DDN welcomes your Letters
Please email the editor, claire@cjwellings.com, or post them to DDN, CJ Wellings Ltd, Romney House, School Road, Ashford, Kent TN27 0LT.
Letters may be edited...
Your letters in the April issue
DDN welcomes your letters.
Please email the editor or post them to DDN, CJ Wellings Ltd, Romney House, School Road, Ashford, Kent TN27 0LT. Letters may be edited...
Letters to the editor – March issue
DDN welcomes your letters.
Please email the editor or post them to DDN, CJ Wellings Ltd, Romney House, School Road, Ashford, Kent TN27 0LT. Letters...
Letters to the editor – Feb issue
Quadruple bypass
America’s opioid epidemic has been big news for a while now, but amongst all the headlines and documentaries and think pieces one issue...
We welcome your letters
DDN welcomes your letters for publication. Please email the editor, claire@cjwellings.com, or post them to DDN at Romney House, School Road, Ashford, Kent TN27...
Responses to the new drug strategy
A new drug strategy was released by the Home Office on 14 July – here are some responses and we will add more as...
Letters and comment
We welcome your letters and comment. Please send your feedback to articles – as well as your thoughts on any aspect of your work or personal...
Send us your letters!
We love receiving your letters at DDN. Please send your thoughts and ideas relating to any aspect of your work or personal experience – as well as your...
DDN welcomes your letters…
We'd love to hear your views – on topics raised in the magazine, or on any other subject related to your work in the...
Letters and Comment from DDN’s December issue
DDN welcomes your Letters Please email the editor, claire@cjwellings.com, or post them to DDN, CJ Wellings Ltd, 57 High Street, Ashford, Kent TN24 8SG....
Letters and Comment from DDN’s November Issue
DDN welcomes your letters. Please email the editor, claire@cjwellings.com, or post to DDN, CJ Wellings Ltd, 57 High Street, Ashford, Kent TN24 8SG. Letters...
Resonating issues
The Resonance Factor is a new model that puts accountability – and empowerment – centre stage, says Kenneth Robinson
There is nothing special about substance...
Peer-led progress
Since founding Dear Albert four years ago, Jon Roberts has focused on developing recovery communities through peer-led interventions. He shares the latest exciting developments...
It’s...
Moral Failure
When will we start listening to the evidence, asks Prof David Nutt ‘What are the prospects for an evidence-based drugs policy?’
Prof David Nutt was asked...
The Third Way
At a recent Volte Face/DDN event in London, Johann Hari interviewed Maia Szalavitz about her newly published thoughts on addiction. This is an extract from...
Reasons to be cheerful
Paul Hayes is determinedly upbeat in the aftermath of Brexit
The country currently has no government, no prime minister, no opposition, no friends, and may...
Letters July/August 2016
DDN welcomes your Letters Please email the editor, claire@cjwellings.com, or post them to DDN, CJ Wellings Ltd, 57 High Street, Ashford, Kent TN24 8SG....
What next for prison reform?
The recent Prisons Bill promised the biggest shake-up of prisons since the Victorian era (DDN, June, page 5). At a VolteFace event in London,...
Letters and comment, June 2016
Lethal label
Difficult though the challenge of the emergence of new substances is proving, and whether or not you agree with the recent legislation, I...
Letters, May 2016
Bull at a gate
The ‘raging bull’ cover (March issue and Colin Miller-Hoare’s letter, April, page 12) was exactly what was needed to express the...
Media savvy
The Psychoactive Substances Act should have become law today, but its implementation has been delayed while ministers work out what they have banned… The...
View from the coalface
The work can be demanding and draining – so why do it? Keith Stevenson shares the highs and lows of working at the Mulberry Community Project
I...
Recovery Capital
New government funding of £10m has just been awarded to drug and alcohol services ‘committed towards improving recovery outcomes’ across England – capital funding that...
Voice on the stairwell
The launch of Collective Voice saw the group emphasising their commitment to service users.
‘It’s Important that our Service Users inform our services,’ said Lord...
Get real
Losing her daughter to an accidental overdose made Anne-Marie Cockburn determined to campaign for the realistic drugs education that could have saved Martha. She...
Media savvy
The news, and the skews, in the national media...
There is no perfect template for reform. Different countries have had vastly different experiences. Culture, fashion,...
Media savvy
Drug abuse and HIV continue to present profound challenges to the health of gay people, but a climate of moral panic and blaming the...
Cold caller
A craving is the salesperson we can choose to ignore, says Chris Robin
It’s a fact that a craving has to strike before a person...
First impressions
The pressure to collect data from new clients should not replace essential rapport, says Shahroo Izadi
Emerging Horizons’ facilitators often begin training by asking delegates...
Comment from the substance misuse sector
Letters and comments
DDN welcomes your Letters Please email the editor, claire@cjwellings.com, or post them to DDN, CJ Wellings Ltd, 57 High Street, Ashford, Kent TN24...
Drug and alcohol in the news
Media savvy
The news and views from the national media
If the Lib Dems have any function now, it’s on issues such as drug decriminalisation, child...
Comment from the substance misuse sector
Letters and comment
DDN welcomes your Letters Please email the editor, claire@cjwellings.com, or post them to DDN, CJ Wellings Ltd, 57 High Street, Ashford, Kent TN24...
Comment from the substance misuse sector
Letters and comment
DDN welcomes your Letters Please email the editor, claire@cjwellings.com, or post them to DDN, CJ Wellings Ltd, 57 High Street, Ashford, Kent TN24...
Comment from the substance misuse sector
Cheers…
Thank you for organising the national service user involvement conference. It certainly was a day to remember and could not have come at a...
Comment from the drug and alcohol field
The DDN letters and comments page, where you can have your say about the drug and alcohol sector.
To be included in the next magazine,...
Female friendly services
Women first
Lisa Goodall and Caryn Smith tell DDN how the North Ayrshire Council Addiction Services (NACAS) changed parts of their service to support women
It...
The news and views from the national media
Media savvy
Legalisation would no doubt suit places such as Vancouver, New York or Liverpool. But how would it work in wretched barrios around the cities...
Letters and comment from the drug and alcohol sector
The DDN letters and comments page, where you can have your say about the drug and alcohol sector.
To be included in the next magazine,...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
Parliament’s response to this week’s report on the 1971 Misuse of Drugs...
Media savvy
Who's been saying what?
The state can only do so much. Most of us aren’t alcoholics. We just drink too much. With every drink, we make...
Letters
We welcome your letters...
Please email them to the editor, claire@cjwellings.com or post them to 57 High Street, Ashford, Kent, TN23 3NH.
Letters may be edited for space...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
The economic commoditisation of human pain is dangerously close to victim-blaming. Such...
Letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The next issue of DDN will be out on 3 November — make sure you...
Letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The next issue of DDN will be out on 3 November — make sure you...
The golden key
Working with people who use drugs is a multidisciplinary landscape with key workers at its heart, says Dr Steve Brinksman
For the past six months...
Letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The next issue of DDN will be out on 8 September — make sure you...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
When laws are widely flouted they cease to be laws and instead...
Media Savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
I’m wholly on the side of senior nurses who, at their annual...
letters 7 july
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The next issue of DDN will be out on 7 July — make sure you...
Letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The next issue of DDN will be out on 7 July — make sure you...
Exporting the disease
Lise Reckee brings a Scandinavian perspective to the debate about the 12-step model
I am writing in support of Stanton Peele’s exceptional wisdom and freedom...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
Unless you have a young male family member who is repeatedly stopped...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
The sad fact is that when any drug is found to be...
Letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The next issue of DDN will be out on 2 June — make sure you...
Opening doors
Drug treatment within custody needs an overhaul, says Alan Rushmore
Drug treatment in prison lacks consistency and is over-burdened and over-complicated by assessment. It need...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
The ONS advises a certain degree of caution when it comes to...
Letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The next issue of DDN will be out on 5 May — make sure you...
A little less conversation…
Lana Durjava attended the CND meeting in Vienna and found it woefully short on action, as she tells DDN
Statistically speaking, the majority of people...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
The choice we have to make now is how we do things...
Letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The next issue of DDN will be out on 7 April — make sure you...
Stick it to the man
Whatever’s happened to true user activism, asks Daren Garratt.
‘I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves...
Letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
To be included in the next issue, please send letters and comments to claire@cjwellings.com.
Committed to naloxone
Regarding Neil...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
The idea that the existing policy on drugs in this country, and...
Media savvy January 2014
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
The man who played the beloved sitcom character Chandler Bing, Matthew Perry,...
Letters January 2014
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The next issue of DDN will be out on 10 February — make sure you...
The ‘R’ word
Alex Boyt tells DDN why he is having trouble climbing the steps of the recovery bus.
Maybe it is the circles I operate in, or...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
The victims of the war on drugs in Britain are predominantly the...
Your letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The December issue of DDN will be out on 2 December — make sure you send letters and comments...
Soapbox
The big question
Is drug prohibition helping or hindering recovery, asks Neil McKeganey
Professor Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, recently joined a growing chorus...
Your letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The November issue of DDN will be out on 4 November — make sure you send letters and comments...
Post-its from practice
Amazing journey
Joining the Birmingham recovery walk made Dr Steve Brinksman realise how far many of his patients had come.
I went for a stroll the...
Media savvy
Who's been saying what..? DDN's round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
We more or less turn a blind eye to the users of...
Media Savvy
Who’s been saying what…?
As the world’s drug habit shows, governments are failing in their quest to monitor every London window box and Andean hillside...
Soapbox
Get them young
It’s time to overcome our paralysis on tackling young people’s drug use, says Kate Iorpenda of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance.
Article 3 of...
Your letters
On the bandwagon
As a community-based provider of substance misuse services I was interested to read John Jolly’s views on procurements and tendering which will...
Legal Line
Reader’s question:
Last year I was badly beaten up, and the police never found the person who did it. I have been in and out...
Family Matters
Voices of strength
While the sun is still shining and we enjoy the rest of the summer at Adfam HQ, our thoughts have turned to...
Enterprise Corner
Nola and Jackie are living proof that you can turn life’s adversities into business opportunities, says Amar Lodhia.
Our vision statement guides our work: ‘Our...
Letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The August issue of DDN will be out on 2 September — make sure you...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN‘s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers.
Have you been stopped and searched by the police recently? If you...
Downhill slide
John Jolly of Blenheim CDP questions the procurement, tendering and commissioning processes in the UK.
I’ve been sharing concerns for years with other CEOs and senior...
Homepage Letters and Comment Tab
Be part of the the debate with the latest letters and comment
What next for prison reform?
At a VolteFace event in London, journalist Philippa Budgen...
Media Savvy
Who's been saying what..? DDN's round-up of what's being said in the national papers
Is there a link between life on welfare and the vile crimes...
Amar Lodhia
Three-pronged approach
Partnership working is showing promising results for London’s keen entrepreneurs, says Amar Lodhia.
Over the last six months, the TSBC team and I, City of...
Family Matters
No hiding place
Adfam’s conference highlighted the urgent need to understand the impact of alcohol on the whole family, says Joss Gaynor.
Hosting our conference, Hidden...
Steve Brinksman
Family matters
Always look beyond the symptoms at the wider picture, says Dr Steve Brinksman.
I have just returned from the RCGP/SMMGP annual substance misuse conference in...
Policy Scope
Right terms
Using appropriate language is an essential step in supporting women involved in prostitution, says Marcus Roberts.
I was in the House of Lords on...
Letters and comment
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say.
The August issue of DDN will be out on 5 August — make sure you send...
Nothing to declare
In the fifth part of his personal story, Mark Dempster reaches crisis point as he realises his luck has finally run out
I had gone...
Debate
DDN’s occasional column offering a chance to hear opposing views on vital issues
‘Now is not the right time to decriminalise drugs’.
PROPOSER: Dr Neil McKeganey,
founder, Centre for Drugs...
Enterprise Corner
Three-pronged approach
Partnership working is showing promising results for London’s keen entrepreneurs, says Amar Lodhia.
Over the last six months, the TSBC team and I, City...
Post-its from practice
Family matters
Always look beyond the symptoms at the wider picture, says Dr Steve Brinksman.
I have just returned from the RCGP/SMMGP annual substance misuse conference in...
Media Savvy
Who's been saying what?
It appears that those who have the biggest budgets shout the loudest, as the supporters of minimum pricing cannot be heard...
Your letters
We welcome your letters...
Please email them to the editor, claire@cjwellings.com or post them to the address on page 3. Letters may be edited for...
Soapbox
DDN’s monthly column offering a platform for a range of diverse views
Quality not quantity
The drink debate has become stuck on quantity. Why can’t we...
Voices of recovery
Taking over the asylum
Are we ready to embrace truly service user led services, asks Alistair Sinclair.
I was back on trains in April, which gave...
Family matters
It’s a man thing
How can we encourage men to access support groups, says Joss Smith
Adfam was set up by the mother of a...
Policy scope
What will happen when drug and alcohol services are at the mercy of local decision-makers, asks Marcus Roberts
Localism Matters.
There has been plenty of discussion about...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..?
Some people will always need ‘welfare’. What is now commonly imagined, though, is that those who most need help should be...
Your letters
We welcome your letters... Please email them to the editor, claire@cjwellings.com - letters may be edited for space or clarity – please limit submissions to...
Soapbox
No smoke without fire
E-cigarettes are coming to your service shortly. Should we be concerned, asks Professor Howard Parker
It’s becoming clear that e-cigarettes are going...
Post-its from practice
Pain, but no gain
Proactively monitoring repeat prescriptions can save a patient from addiction to their medication, says Dr Steve Brinksman.
A few weeks ago I...
Enterprise Corner
Employment revolution
Turning negatives into positives is the challenge ahead, says Amar Lodhia.
At strategic points in the year I find it important to reflect. At base...
Family Matters
More for less Adfam’s new survey showed family services are struggling to stretch scant resources to answer a surge in demand, says Joss Smith.
Raising...
View from THE FRONTLINE
How well do frontline workers think the sector is responding to parental substance use? Oliver French shares Adfam’s findings.
Since the publication of Hidden harm...
Letters and comment
We welcome your letters... Please email them to the editor, claire@cjwellings.com or post them to the address on page 3. Letters may be edited...
DVD training – motivational interviewing step by step with Cathy Cole, Psychotherapist
Reviewed by Elaine Rose
This training package comprises four DVDs, each over two hours in length. The training covers, in helpful detail, the key aspects...
Follow us, like us, talk to us!
DDN’s social media streams have been alive with chat about Be the change
Twitter
@AmarLodhia
Met some passionate people @DDNMagazine #bethechange. Everyone at the enterprise workshop will...
Voices of Recovery
Being the change
Alistair Sinclair’s workshop on asset-based recovery showed that there are many people who believe in the possibility of positive change
Last November I...
Media Savvy
Who’s been saying what..?
It is offensive to see people criminalised and imprisoned for using stimulants many politicians admit to having used, especially when countless...
Family Matters
Poor perceptions
The links between poverty and addiction are complex and should not be over-simplified, says Joss Smith
The public’s perception of child poverty has been...
Soapbox
Road to ruin
The puritanical recovery agenda is stigmatising, marginalising and endangering the health of people who use drugs or have a maintenance script, says Dr Eliot...
Policy Scope
Off the agenda?
Is recovery pushing harm reduction off the drug policy radar, asks Marcus Roberts
I attended a roundtable meeting on HIV and injecting drug...
Family matters
Family value
Latest research shows the value of investing in family support, says Joss Smith
In an increasingly outcomes-focused world we are all being asked to...
Letters
We welcome your letters...
Please email them to the editor, claire@cjwellings.com or post them to the address on page 3. Letters may be edited for space...
Enterprise corner
Opportunity knocks
Successful entrepreneurs offer a valuable lesson in grabbing life’s chances, says Amar Lodhia
Seema Sharma is an entrepreneur, dentist and Channel 4’s Slumdog...
Legal Line
Release solicitor Kirstie Douse answers your legal questions
Reader’s question:
I have just received a letter from the council saying I’m ‘under occupied’ in my two-bed...
Post-its from practice
Partnership for life
We have to keep trying to help patients effect change, says Dr Steve Brinksman
One of the privileges of being a GP is...
Your letters
We welcome your letters…
Please email them to claire@cjwellings.com or post them to The Editor, DDN Magazine, CJ Wellings Ltd, 57 High Street, Ashford TN24 8SG. Letters...
Media Savvy
Who's been saying what..?
It is true that the cost in lives wrecked and lost through drugs is huge, not to mention the money spent...
Family Matters
Troubled times
Identifying the families who most need support is proving a tricky task for local authorities, but they must keep the key issues firmly...
Enterprise Corner
New year, new dawn?
Tackling burgeoning social problems requires true enterprise, says Amar Lodhia
As the saying goes, you must spend the New Year festivities like...
Letters and comment
We welcome your letters...
Please email them to claire@cjwellings.com or post them to The Editor, DDN Magazine, CJ Wellings Ltd, 57 High Street, Ashford TN24...
Soapbox
Entry point
Harm reduction services are the door to recovery and must be protected, says Michelle Judge
A nationwide network of needle exchanges has been a...
Voices of recovery
People Power
The last year has seen dramatic change in bringing small and disparate recovery communities together in Lancashire, say Alistair Sinclair and James Attwood
community-led...
Post-its from Practice
Beyond a script
Actively bringing patients closer to services could mean a paradigm shift for hepatitis C treatment, says Dr Steve Brinksman
Good quality shared care...
Policy Scope
How will the core vision of recovery fare as the transition to localism begins in earnest, asks Marcus Roberts
Turning tide?
Has the high tide of...
Legal LINE
Release solicitor Kirstie Douse answers your legal questions in her regular column
Do I really have to move home?
Reader’s question:
I made a homeless application to my...
Family matters
Recovery is…
The Families First conference gave Adfam the opportunity to ask family members what recovery means to them, says Joss Smith
We were so pleased...
Enterprise corner
Blinkers off!
Great talent can come from anywhere. If only the government would see it, says Amar Lodhia
Last month I wrote about the government’s ‘out...
Legal Line
Release solicitor Kirstie Douse answers your legal questions in her regular column
Reader’s question: I am a landlord of a flat that I own and rent out,...
Family Matters- Stigma sticks
Listening to families can help them overcome stigma, says Joss Smith
Families are often hidden from policy discussions around drugs and alcohol and stigma is...
Post-its from Practice- Time to change
We must stop talking numbers and develop a real interest in positive health outcomes, says Dr Steve Brinksman
During October each year we have the annual...
Voices of recovery- Finding identity
Only when we start valuing each individual where they are now, rather than where we would like them to be, will we take the...
Get with the programme
Evidence-based prevention and education initiatives are vital to the future of our young people, says Yasmin Batliwala
The NTA’s latest statistics on young people show...
Your Letters
We welcome your letters…
Please email them to claire@cjwellings.com or post them to The Editor, DDN Magazine, CJ Wellings Ltd, 57 High Street, Ashford TN24...
A sense of purpose
Helping people to regain their stake in society can help to transform lives, says Amar Lodhia.
We’ve been trying to get our heads around government...
Your letters
We welcome your letters...
Please email them to claire@cjwellings.com or post them to The Editor, DDN Magazine, CJ Wellings Ltd, 57 High Street, Ashford TN24...
Policy Scope
Change the record
The popular mantra of drug policy failure is drowning out our successes, says Marcus Roberts
The idea that drug policy is ‘failing’ appears...
Enterprise corner
Silent voices
Recovery must reach every member of the family, says Amar Lodhia
For a long time at TSBC we have advocated that the key to...
Family matters
A Good Start…
The government has acknowledged that child to parent violence exists – now the real work begins, says Joss Smith
This week the government...
Post-its from Practice
The three Rs
It’s all about the right treatment, at the right place, and the right time, says Dr Steve Brinksman
There are many things I...
Voices of recovery
Vital core
Harnessing the passions, strengths and skills of individuals shows the power of community-led recovery, says Alistair Sinclair
September saw a lot of recovery activity....
Should an old conviction count against my criminal injuries application?
Release solicitor Kirstie Douse answers your legal questions in her regular Legal Line column
Reader’s question:Last year I was violently attacked on my way home...
City challenge
We must learn to balance risk and freedom, says John Ashton in this month's Soapbox
Most of us enjoy a love-hate relationship with our cities. We expect them...
One step beyond
It’s time to move clear of the abstinence v prescribing debate and agree on a holistic, pragmatic approach, says Oscar D’Agnone.
How best to treat...