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Obituary
[…] death of Alan Joyce. I first came across Alan when he started working as a volunteer for the Methadone Alliance. He popped up on some of the harm reduction mailing lists, full of passion for his new role, and with an interest in politics and post-structuralist philosophy. An ex-art student, Alan had studied Fine Art […]
Executions for drug offences up 850 per cent in two years
There were at least 285 executions for drug offences worldwide in 2022, according to the latest report from Harm Reduction International (HRI). This represents a 118 per cent increase on 2021 and an 850 per cent increase since 2020. There are 35 countries that still retain the death penalty. Executions for drug offences were either […]
What price life?
[…] with witnesses (other drug users) present. A Patient Group Direction (PGD) had been sent out to nurses and pharmacists in community addiction teams, needle and syringe programmes, harm reduction teams and the Scottish Prison Service, and Lord Advocate’s Guidelines allowed naloxone to be supplied by staff working for services in contact with people at risk […]
Better joined up working needed between treatment and child sexual abuse services
[…] reported having mental health problems, along with 15 per cent of males, while 33 per cent of females and 9 per cent of males reported having self- harmed. The review stresses that these ‘multiple vulnerabilities and complex needs’ need to be properly addressed, while ‘young people becoming young adults need to be supported as […]
A dangerous game
[…] access effective treatment. Nevertheless, at Release we are still seeing too many services around the country failing to protect people who use benzos from significant and avoidable harms. Max had been self-medicating his anxiety with illicit alprazolam for some time. Struggling to manage this by himself, he reached out to his GP for support. […]
The discovery of recovery – where did it all start?
[…] dated to May 2008, when governments in Scotland and England presented it as a new dawn, which would reinvigorate treatment services stuck in the rut of preventing harm and crime rather than redeeming and regenerating lives. In an ‘age of austerity’, commentators have noted that the ambitious rhetoric was not matched by the ‘intensive […]
Hospital Liaison Worker
[…] approach you will be engaging with individuals who have been admitted to hospital and have a substance use support need. You will deliver a range of interventions including advice, harm reduction and structured psycho-social interventions. You will work closely alongside colleagues within the hospital to ensure that appropriate support is offered to all those in need.
NZ to ban sale of cigarettes to ‘future generations’
[…] people,’ said health minister Dr Ayesha Verrall. ‘Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand and causes one in four cancers. Smoking related harm is particularly prevalent in our Māori, Pacific and low-income communities. While smoking rates are heading in the right direction, we need to do more, faster to […]
On the margins
[…] debate was also entering a new terrain. ‘On the one hand there’s an increasing focus on the millions of people who take drugs without experiencing any significant harm, and another discourse focused on the role of drugs in deprived and marginalised communities.’ There were left wing and right-wing versions of both, but the fact […]
City Health Challenge
[…] a continuation of the same’. Senator Larry Campbell brought his perspective on ‘changing the status quo’ from Vancouver, where, as mayor, he had been involved in dynamic harm reduction efforts including the first safe injection site in North America. Forming a coalition to look at crime prevention and tackling addiction had been the way forward, […]
MDMA back in vogue as NPS numbers continue to rise
[…] entering treatment, while levels of cannabis use are also rising in some countries. ‘The revival of MDMA brings with it the need to rethink existing prevention and harm-reduction responses to target and support a new population of users who may be using high-dose products without fully understanding the risks involved,’ said EMCDDA director Alexis […]
DDN Conference 2023 session one: Rising to the challenge
[…] cake makers extraordinaire! Also a charity working to support people affected by homelessness, drug and alcohol problems and physical and mental health needs: www.emergingfutures.org.uk neo360 provide comprehensive harm reduction monitoring and reporting solutions: neo360.co The Hepatitis C Trust is a charity dedicated to eliminating hepatitis C in the UK by 2030. Find information and support […]
DDN Conference – video highlights
[…] who were putting lived experience at the heart of their activities Gareth Balmer and the Fife WithYou team shared ideas from a strong peer network to enhance harm reduction services and prevent drug related death. Soulgetic’s founder Stella Kityo shared inspiration on empowering women and strengthening communities. Red Rose Recovery delivered a blueprint for creating […]
Help at hand
[…] those interested in learning, there is plenty on offer. The site has an e-learning foundation programme, with all the necessary elements for good practice, such as assessment, harm reduction, treatment and care planning. There are even role-specific modules to enhance skills for prescribers, recovery workers and volunteers. All the content is developed by experienced workers […]
Families First Conference 2013 programme
[…] mother and activist Kate’s involvement with the trauma of drugs in the family began when her daughter became addicted to heroin. She became a passionate advocate of harm reduction, and as a member of the Brighton Independent Drugs Commission, she added a mother’s perspective to the case for treatment over punishment. 11:40am: Tea Break 12pm […]
Five steps to lower your risk of hepatitis and protect your health
[…] and not shared with others. You can use our free needle exchange services to ensure you have safe and sterile equipment. We even provide injecting advice and harm reduction techniques. Try to be more aware of how much alcohol you’re drinking and stay within the recommended 14 units of alcohol per week. Alcohol abuse can […]
On the margins – news focus
[…] attention.’ The ‘process of change and recovery’ is likely to be a lengthy one, the document stresses, making it vital that a range of support – from harm reduction to help in exiting prostitution and support for ongoing recovery – are provided. The report looks at the kinds of interventions that work best, as well […]
British Columbia launches ‘healthcare over handcuffs’ decriminalisation experiment
[…] to legalise cannabis in 2018 (DDN, November 2018, page 4). Kennedy Stewart: Decriminalisation is a ‘groundbreaking step’ The province has also been increasing its residential rehab and harm reduction provision in response to Canada’s ongoing opioid crisis. Last saw more than 2,200 drug-related deaths in B.C., more than 25 per cent up on 2020’s figures […]
National news from the substance misuse field
[…] problem New psychoactive substances are a source of ‘increasing concern’ in prisons, according to a report from the prisons and probation ombudsman, with links to suicide, self- harm, violence, intimidation and debt. The document looks at 19 deaths in prison between April 2012 and September 2014, where the prisoner was ‘known, or strongly suspected, […]
Problem drug use ‘not a personal failing’, says SDF manifesto
[…] numbers in treatment should be doubled so that 70-80 per cent of the people ‘who could benefit from treatment are actively engaged’, it says, while successful local harm reduction initiatives should be rolled out nationally, with increased investment for HIV and hepatitis testing for anyone with a history of injecting drugs. Services for women also […]
Tsunami of Need
[…] Lose the opportunity to be with others with the same shared experiences of life? When people lose their sense of belonging? The answer: negative thoughts, relapse, self- harm, overdose, suicide and death. Read the article at www.phoenix-futures.org.uk ———– DDN magazine is a free publication self-funded through advertising. We are proud to work in partnership […]
Number of people sleeping rough up by a quarter
[…] to put long-term funding into the proven solutions we know help people to leave the streets behind, such as Housing First.’ February 2024 DDN looked at tobacco harm reduction for people sleeping rough The ‘appalling’ spike in rough sleeping pointed to a situation that was ‘out of control’ and demanded emergency action, added Homeless Link’s […]
News in brief
[…] need to acknowledge that ‘drug policy approaches dominated by strict law enforcement practices’ perpetuate the spread of hepatitis C by exacerbating marginalisation and undermining people’s access to harm reduction and treatment services, according to a report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy. The negative impact of the war on drugs on public health: the […]
Is Scotland closer to a consensus on drug treatment?
[…] to recovery strategy, that for too long the debate in Scotland has centred on whether the primary aim of treatment for people who use drugs should be harm reduction or abstinence.’ So if a truce has been called in parliament for now, are the press likely to lose interest in their anti-methadone campaign? ‘Clearly the […]
Drinks retailers lobbying against steep rise in MUP level
[…] years, a time of inflation,’ said president of the Federation of Independent Retailers, Hussan Lal. ‘However over 80p is over the top. We welcome any reduction in harmful levels of drinking. It undoubtedly blights many lives. However we feel that, as Public Health Scotland has suggested, this scheme can only be part of the […]
Make It Happen! programme
[…] Dr Judith Yates, GP; Kirstie Douse, Release; Anna Millington; Pete Burkinshaw, PHE; Bob Campbell, Phoenix Futures. 12.45pm-1.45pm: Lunch Band and entertainment, exhibition including the service user groups, harm reduction café, head and shoulder massages, taster sessions on auricular acupuncture, yoga class, film show, photo booth (all day). 1.45pm-3.00pm: ‘Perspectives’, chaired by Alistair Sinclair, UKRF Naloxone […]
19th November issue
[…] skills and the motivation to do well. It emphasises the argument reiterated in our letters page and in FDAP conference presentations – that It’s not about reducing the options to ‘either harm reduction or abstinence’, but about making sure we have both, at the time the individual is ready – and this can not be emphasised enough in a climate of fear […]
DDN Conference 2022 Information
[…] 7pm on the night of the 22 June some of the speakers, delegates, exhibitors, and the DDN team are meeting for an informal catch up and ‘ harm reduction cafe’ in the Shakespeare Inn, B3 1JJ If you are in town the night before the conference we hope you will join us. The DDN Team […]
DDN Events
[…] and other organisations in the field including the Familes First conferences for Adfam. We also provide conference promotion, reporting and coverage including creating conference special magazines for the Harm Reduction International global events. Contact ian@cjwellings.com to find out more about working with DDN on your next event. Get Connected: DDN Conference issue, films and photos here! […]
BTC Programme
[…] zone . - Open meetings with NUN and other organizations. - Live music . - Open mic ‘Soapbox’ area . - Drop -in suggestion wall . - Harm Reduct ion café . 2.00pm -3.30pm : Interactive session , chaired by Carole Sharma . - Several short service user (individual or group) presentations, demonstrating inspiring […]
23rd April issue
[…] have also been notable successes, such as lower rates of HIV among drug users than in other comparable European countries. The Commission’s job will be to highlight what works – obviously harm reduction measures in this case – as well as what doesn’t. The new charity has already involved a diverse body of expertise – including some that normally comment on policy, […]
‘Don’t go cold turkey this January – get long-term help’
[…] “cold turkey”, and to get the right support to stop using drugs and alcohol, safely.’ The charity’s advice focuses on health checks, offering prescribing services rooted in harm reduction to help individuals recover at their own pace, and one-to-one support with a recovery professional. Their ‘top tips for recovery in 2017’ include ‘Look after your […]
Country-wide naloxone awareness campaign launches
[…] population, and this allows for their lives to be seen as expendable. This has to end – we must recognise that stigma kills.’ One of the posters features harm reduction activist and regular DDN conference volunteer Lee Collingham. ‘I was losing friends and going to funerals. They were poorly attended and the word heroin was omitted […]
Barriers to work
[…] Tyrell, Addaction ‘We will seize the opportunity’ ‘The treatment system will commit to you and DWP to do our best. The focus has been on crime, harm reduction, then recovery. Then there was the crash, and the agenda moved on. We will try to seize this opportunity to make this work.’ Paul Hayes, Collective […]
Letters
[…] is helping people to recover their lives without a substance dictating their days, why would anyone disagree with that? I believe there are other ways to recover. Harm reduction is vital to begin with, but does it make sense to spend a life on a substance like methadone and many other so called solutions? AA […]
Substance Misuse Recovery Worker
[…] planning and aftercare planning. To work collaboratively with colleagues and key stakeholders across multidisciplinary teams, ensuring adherence to all the clients’ clients’ policies and safeguarding principles. Deliver harm reduction advice, guidance and education, including delivery programme, brief and extended recovery interventions, blood-borne virus intervention, overdose prevention, including naloxone programmes. What you’ll need to succeed Must […]
Programme
[…] zone . - Open meetings with NUN and other organizations. - Live music . - Open mic ‘Soapbox’ area . - Drop -in suggestion wall . - Harm Reduction café . 2.00pm -3.30pm : Interactive session , chaired by Carole Sharma . - Several short service user (individual or group) presentations, demonstrating inspiring personal stories […]
Breaking Ties
[…] quote Professor Sir John Strang’s comments that this could be a ‘game-changer’ in opiate addiction treatment. A further study, published by Neale, Tompkins and Strang in the Harm Reduction Journal (April 2019), supports the idea that these prolonged-release formulations could be beneficial to patients ‘who wanted to avoid thinking about drugs and drug-using associates, wished […]
In it together
[…] alcohol dependence can both strengthen relationships and reduce problematic drinking, says Kate Thompson. Although behavioural couples therapy has been recommended in NICE guidance since 2011 for ‘ harmful drinkers and people with mild alcohol dependence who have a regular partner who is willing to participate in treatment’, counselling and therapy that focuses on the […]
Programme
[…] . - Open meetings with NUN and other organizations . - Live music . - Open mic ‘Soapbox’ area . - Drop -in suggestion wall . - Harm Reduction café . 2.00pm -3.30pm : Interactive session , chaired by Carole Sharma . - Several short service user (individual or group) presentations, demonstrating inspiring personal stories […]
29th January issue
[…] and parenting charities debated issues at a recent seminar and learnt from innovative schemes (page 12). Gary Rees shows determination to improve communication between prisons and makes progress in healthcare and harm reduction through the innovative ‘Sparcle!’ network, on page 10. Finally, amid reports of how crystal meth is devastating America, the Home Office reclassified the drug this week. How worried should […]
A round-up of national news: December 2016
[…] need to scale up needle and syringe programmes (NSP) and opioid substitution therapy (OST) to keep pace with growing need, according to HRI’s latest Global state of harm reduction report. Out of more than 150 countries where injecting drug use is reported, nearly 70 still do not provide NSP – with no new countries establishing […]
Stand up and be counted
[…] up simply rebuilding the treatment system of the past. That system did not effectively meet the needs of women. We need to create a new system of harm reduction, treatment and recovery for the future, which puts the needs of women at its heart. Women are central to local communities and families and are hugely […]
300m drug users world-wide by ‘end of century’
[…] have ‘meaningfully assessed’ the unintended consequences of an enforcement-based approach, which also include diversion of funding from health and stigmatisation of drug users. A new report from Harm Reduction International (HRI), meanwhile, states that millions of dollars in international funding for drug enforcement is going to countries with ‘extremely poor’ human rights records that are […]
DDN July/August 2024
[…] find the best initiatives to go beyond simply drug checking (p10). It’s not about one specific model, says the EMCDDA’s director, but about being ready with a harm reduction system that has a combination of interventions. And as always, working with peers is essential to every initiative involved. Talking of which, will we see you […]
DDN April 2018
[…] ‘crazy waste of money’, surely politicians must listen (page 6). These are not isolated voices: the Royal Society for Public Health is among many organisations to back harm reduction initiatives such as consumption rooms and heroin-assisted treatment as a move towards evidence-based policy. Police officers were among the stakeholders to come together at a recent […]
Letters
[…] Newsnight (DDN, January, page 13). It just served to denigrate Eliot Albers and INPUD as a whole, who are not just pushing for legalisation but also bring harm reduction work to countries where drug users are arrested, imprisoned and executed for possessing small amounts of drugs and also just for possessing drug-taking paraphernalia. Peter Simonson, […]
30th June issue
[…] as directly to us here at DDN. But I make no apology for carrying debate, because that’s exactly what DDN is here for. If you’re part of a harm reduction network, you know why you’re there; if you’re contributing to a blog that supports abstinence you know you’re among like-minded friends. But addiction doesn’t microchip its subjects […]
A partnership between national and local charities launches in Bradford
[…] forward-looking partners, achieving, and growing together developing a world class treatment & recovery system that Bradford deserves.’ New Vision Bradford will include a range of support including harm reduction, care coordination, clinical and psychosocial therapeutic interventions. Create Strength Group will provide support for people who become abstinent to create a lived experience-led recovery community for […]
February issue
[…] DDN will always strive to be an open forum for debate. In our Soapbox, Dr Eliot Albers eloquently makes the case for preserving respect and dignity alongside harm reduction, and highlights stigma created by an abstinence-focused recovery wave. While on page 14, Marie, as she nears the end of her ‘journey of self-discovery’ series, credits […]
Letters
[…] already supposedly engaged with structured treatment journeys were still attending for needles, and with little motivation to change. I can see it may help with the current harm reduction/maintenance philosophy, but for those of us working with an abstinence based model of treatment, this policy is of very little help, as experienced by the detrimental […]
16th June issue
[…] local culture. But Jacquie Johnston-Lynch describes in our cover story how her 12-step service in Liverpool not only played the game of attracting clients, but played it alongside the harm reduction teams, to become part of the same strong league of services. This is surely what it’s about – getting out there and playing with enthusiasm, so that […]
Trump calls for death penalty for drug dealers
[…] Sánchez-Moreno. ‘If this administration wants to save lives, it needs to drop its obsession with killing and locking people up, and instead focus resources on what works: harm reduction strategies and access to evidence-based treatment and prevention.’ Meanwhile, visits to US emergency departments for suspected opioid overdoses increased by 30 per cent in the year […]
Tobacco plan aims for ‘smoke-free generation’
[…] accounts for approximately half the difference in life expectancy between society’s richest and poorest. There are still 7.3m adult smokers in England and ‘smoking and its associated harms continue to fall hardest on some of the poorest and most vulnerable’, the document states. Among the plan’s other commitments are to improve data collection on […]
Seamless Systems
[…] to commence effective release planning and coordination of continuity of care is crucial, and there has been an increase in the numbers of naloxone kits, training and harm reduction advice disseminated to patients prior to release. Patient feedback Patient feedback has been paramount to determining the next steps on this journey – our teams tried […]
Government to ban disposable vapes
[…] and Health Care. ‘In the event of a ban, it would be important to encourage current and ex-smokers who use disposables to switch to other types of e-cigarettes rather than going back to just smoking tobacco.’ See tobacco harm reduction feature in the February issue of DDN health secretary Victoria Atkins ASH chief executive Deborah Arnott
Six new nitazenes detected in ‘rapidly evolving’ European drug market last year
[…] underlines the need for Europe to improve its preparedness for any possible market shifts, by ensuring adequate prevention and treatment, including access to opioid agonist medicines and harm reduction services, as well as making available sufficient supplies of naloxone,’ EMCDDA says. Potent synthetic substances, new drug mixtures and changing patterns of use all ‘pose a […]
DDN National Conference 2023
[…] to challenge stigma and thrive. The second session focused on peer power. Alistair Bryant and Luke O’Neil from Cranstoun shared genuine examples of co-production to develop their dynamic harm reduction initiatives including peer led naloxone distribution and innovative tech to create the BuddyUp app. Laura Pechey from the government’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) and […]
August issue
[…] Read the Magazine: Virtual Magazine Version | PDF Version Magazine Features NEWS FOCUS Does a preoccupation with binge drinking mean health is being overlooked? HARM REDUCTION SAVED MY LIFE The ACMD regards naloxone as an intervention that saves lives – yet it remains prescription only. David Gilliver hears from a service that’s […]
PHE ‘does not recognise’ picture painted in think tank report
[…] according to Freedom of Information data, 55 per cent of English local authorities have cut their residential treatment budgets since the coalition came to power, while ‘ harm reduction services that maintain people in their addiction have been preserved under the NHS ring-fence’, with a 40 per cent rise in the number of people on […]