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‘Unprecedented’ purity levels for heroin, cocaine and ecstasy
Heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and MDMA are now being sold at ‘unprecedented’ levels of purity, according to the latest DrugWise survey of the UK’s street drugs market. This confirms a trend of rising purity levels detected since 2014, says Highways and buyways: a snapshot of UK drug scenes 2016, which is based on interviews with […]
Local news from the substance misuse field
Duchess of cambridge visits treatment programme The Duchess of Cambridge visited HMP Send this month to see a RAPt addiction service in action. The programme, based in a standalone women-only unit, is an intensive 12-step drug and alcohol programme. The Duchess heard personal stories from some of the women about their experiences with addiction and […]
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 send letters and comments to claire@cjwellings.com by Wednesday 28 August to be included. False dichotomy In her open letter to Anna Soubry MP Dr Chris Ford draws an erroneous […]
NHS scales up ‘one-hour’ hep C tests
[…] also procuring 34 Cepheid GeneXpert portable testing units – which can detect if someone is infected in less than an hour – for use in settings like prisons and GP surgeries. The expansion in testing forms part of the ‘final phase’ of England’s hepatitis C elimination programme, which could see it become the first […]
DDN 2020 Programme
[…] and successes and the impact our peers have in engaging and empowering people in hepatitis C care and treatment. From drug treatment to homeless shelters and prisons, our peer workers engage with often marginalised and under-served communities and those least likely to be engaged with treatment services. Reaching these groups by sharing their […]
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 the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child declares that in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative […]
Letters
The DDN letters page, where you can have your say. To be included in the next magazine, send your letters and comments to claire@cjwellings.com or to 57 High Street, Ashford, Kent TN24 8SG. Letters may be edited for space or clarity – please limit submissions to 350 words. Competent compassion I am writing in response to Chris Ford’s […]
DDN February 2017
Welcome to our latest issue! ‘The situation requires a real shake-up in the way we engage’ ‘We begin to categorise and stigmatise without even realising it,’ said a speaker at the recent ‘Hit Hot Topics’. Throughout the event we heard how ‘language can become perception’ and be very alienating. We also heard about people who inject […]
Alcohol and drugs in the news
Media savvy The news and views from the national media Laws against smoking have irreversibly shifted attitudes. The same drive is needed for alcohol consumption. The police, magistrates and judges must insist on rehab for alcoholics as they do for drug addiction. And finally, while the NHS must care for those already addicted, it needs […]
Force for good
UK veterans who served in military operations are likely to report a significantly higher prevalence of common mental disorders than non-veterans (23 per cent versus 16 per cent), as well as alcohol misuse (11 per cent versus 6 per cent), according to a 2020 King’s Centre for Military Health Research study Mental health disorders and […]
My road, my choice
This year the DDN conference name is important. It recognises that there are many roads users (of both drugs and alcohol) walk and many different destinations we seek to get to. The DDN Conference, 13 July, Birmingham. For some users this is recovery and abstinence, for others it is having a stable base line […]
Time to stop criminalising drug users, says global commission
A new report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy has called for an end to the criminalisation of drug use and possession. Among the recommendations in Taking control: pathways to drug policies that work are that health and community safety be prioritised by ‘a fundamental reorientation’ of policy and resources away from punitive approaches, […]
Vital connections
Communities and conversation are key to making recovery a reality, delegates heard at Addaction’s annual recovery conference. Jill Stevenson reports Communities working together was a central theme of Addaction’s fourth National Recovery Conference last month. The annual get-together looked at how peer support and combined neighbourhood/group action could provide the catalyst to further recovery from […]
European drug scene in a ‘state of flux’
New threats are continuing to challenge Europe’s established models of drug policy and practice, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), with the drug problem in a ‘state of flux’. Positive developments regarding more traditional drugs – such as fewer new heroin users, less injecting and declining use of cocaine […]
Across the great divide
[…] lack of momentum to prioritise harm reduction – had scaled down progress in many countries. Referring to HRI’s latest biennial report, she highlighted that harm reduction in prisons ‘lies far behind what’s available in the community’, with several programmes closing since the last report and Spain being ‘the only country that has anything up […]
Homelessness ‘substantially’ increases BBV risk for people who inject drugs
Homelessness and unstable housing are associated with a ‘substantial’ increase in acquisition risk for both HIV and hepatitis C among people who inject drugs, according to research by the University of Bristol. Recent homelessness or unstable living circumstances meant a 55 per cent increase in HIV risk and 65 per cent for hep C risk, […]
Risks of pregabalin and gabapentin
[…] chronic pain, where we were seeing the use of long-term, high-dose opiates. ‘It was then, four or five years ago, that we started hearing that, particularly in prisons, these drugs had a street value and people were using them illicitly. Drug users recognised them as another way of altering their state of mind and […]
More countries implementing harm reduction services
[…] and Eurasia implement both NSP and OST, these are still ‘more absent than present’ across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean. Harm reduction in prisons also remains limited and has seen little expansion in over a decade, says HRI. COVID-19 has ‘tested the resilience’ of harm reduction services, the report states, […]
No time to lose
The ‘substantial upward trend’ in drug-related deaths was explored at the latest meeting of the Drugs, Alcohol and Justice Cross-Party Parliamentary Group, as DDN reports. The greatest increase in drug-related deaths was seen in the most deprived areas, explained Dr Ben Windsor-Shellard of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with the North East of […]
Drug Related Deaths 2021 – a response from Tom Woodcock
Every year since 1993 the Government has published statistics for deaths relating to drug poisonings in England and Wales and the recently published report for 2020 shows that 4651 such deaths were recorded with the highest rates occurring in the North of England. The report shows the overall increase in deaths since reporting began, the […]
DDN April2021
[…] Permanent • Temporary • Consultancy Supplying experienced, trained staff: • Commissioning• Service Reviews• DIP Management• DAT Co-ordination• Needs Assessments / Project Management/ Groups and 1-1 drug workers/ Prisons and community drug workers/ Nurses (detox, therapeutic, managers)/ Many more roles... CALL TODAY: 020 8987 6061Register online:www.SamRecruitment.co.uk Solutions Action ManagementStill No.1 for Recruitment and Consultancy AAAPRIL […]
News in brief
Ageist agenda Better knowledge is needed of what works in the identification, treatment and prevention of drug problems in older people, according to a report from the Big Lottery Fund, along with improved collection and reporting of data. Drug use among older people is being ‘systematically ignored’, says The forgotten people: drug problems in later […]
In mind and body
This year’s HIT Hot Topics conference delved into neuroscience to challenge our perceptions of drugs and drug taking. Max Daly reports The fervour around crack cocaine reached such a level of hype in the US in the 1980s, neuroscientist Dr Carl Hart told the 2014 HIT Hot Topics conference, that at one point black civil […]
New directions
David Gilliver talks to International Drug Policy Consortium executive director Ann Fordham about raising awareness and the changing course of the global drug policy debate. ‘It’s clear that the global consensus on prohibition is breaking,’ says International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) executive director Ann Fordham. ‘But that doesn’t mean there’s going to be a new consensus.’ IDPC […]
News in brief
Talk it over A guide for parents on how to talk to their children about club drugs has been published by Adfam, the Angelus Foundation and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital’s club drugs clinic. ‘The involvement and support of parents and families can make a big difference to someone’s health and how they deal with taking […]
Your shout!
[…] stop putting that out there – we work in co-operating with all. Allan Houston, by email ***************** On course? What happened before treatment courses were available in prisons and specifically to ‘lifers’? My view is simple – lifers were released without interventions of any kind. If the historical perspective is to be believed, lifers […]
Psychoactive Substances Bil
[…] penalties to many otherwise law abiding’ people. Closing ‘headshops’ could also simply displace the market, he says, while those in charge of clubs, festivals, pubs or even prisons could be liable to prosecution. The ACMD says it is willing to work with the government to draw up lists of substances to be included and […]
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 policy on ‘joined-up’ working between departments to tackle multiple social disadvantage. Trawling through the well-presented but often redundant strategy documents, it is evident that while self-employment is an incredibly powerful […]
US signals softer stance on drug sentencing for non-violent offenders
The US administration has indicated a softening of its stance on drug sentencing, with proposals to abolish mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders. The country has long been the subject of criticism for its […]
DF Family support worker job decription 30.11.20
[…] those bereaved by addiction. Our services include a helpline, support groups, an annual 'bereaved by addiction' conference and our young people’s bereavement project. We also work in prisons, schools and community settings. The F SW will work flexibly to ensure a high -quality helpline service; this may include weekend, evenings and public holidays and […]
Matter of life and death
Why in the name of public health is naloxone distribution still a postcode lottery, asks Neil Hunt. I live in Kent, one of 16 sites from the 2010 NTA naloxone pilots for families and carers of heroin/opioid users. Locally, ‘Take Home Naloxone’ (THN) for service users, their families or carers has since become integral to […]
Addiction Treatment Directory
The Addiction Treatment Directory providing a comprehensive listing of residential addiction treatment services.
DDN March 2021
Early trauma is the common thread Early trauma is an incredibly complex subject and yet it is the common thread that runs through so much of our work. Adverse Child Experience (ACE) studies have highlighted the links between addiction and neglect, abuse and violence, yet how often do we use this knowledge to develop our […]
Drug executions up more than 40 per cent
There were at least 467 drug-related executions in 2023, according to the latest report from Harm Reduction International (HRI). The figure is 44 per cent higher than the previous year and does not account for the ‘dozens, if not hundreds’ of executions believed to have taken place in China, Vietnam, and North Korea, HRI points […]
DDN November 2020
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A foot in the door
Seeking healthcare can be daunting for homeless people. DDN visits a practice in north London that takes every opportunity to engage. Read this article in DDN ‘We haven’t touched the sides of the people sleeping on the streets around here. Everybody comes to Camden, they come to Euston train station, they come to Kings Cross, […]
Tailored treatment needed for prescription drug misuse, says ACMD
Prescription-only drugs are being widely diverted to supplement the use of illegal substances, according to a new report from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). However, diversion and illicit supply remains a ‘much smaller problem’ than in the US, it states. Diverted prescription drugs are supplementing, rather than replacing, the use of […]
Phoenix Futures residential drug treatment
[…] Karen Biggs. ‘We are proud of our history which has seen us grow from a single pioneering residential service to a national organisation with services in community, prisons housing and residential settings. We have adapted our approach over the years to meet the changing needs of our service users, their families and society but […]
Time for social action
Social action is the way forward in tackling complex needs, hears DDN. The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Complex Needs and Dual Diagnosis recently launched a call for evidence around social action (DDN, May, page 5). With a detailed questionnaire, the group wanted to know what factors could really make a difference in helping […]
Celebrating Recovery Month
With You staff share what Recovery Month means to them in hope that their experience will inspire others. Recovery Month is a time to celebrate the gains made by those in recovery, and remind those at the beginning of their journey that they are not alone. It’s an opportunity to let everyone know that although […]
Drugs, Alcohol & Justice All-Party Parliamentary Group reports
DDN regularly covers meetings of the Drugs, Alcohol & Justice All-Party Parliamentary Group. Here are links to some recent reports.
Muted response to first ungass since 1990s
The world needs global drug policies that ‘put people first’, UNODC executive director Yury Fedotov told the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs in New York, although many campaigning organisations have expressed disappointment at the event’s outcomes. The session, the first since 1998, was originally scheduled for 2019 but was brought forward following […]
What state are we in?
A new, improved State of the sector report is underway and needs your input, says Paul Anders Last year DrugScope, on behalf of the Recovery Partnership, undertook significant work to try to gauge the health and confidence of the adult community and residential parts of the drug and/or alcohol treatment system. The result was State […]
November 2009
Closing the gaps Services must link to provide a stronger net. ‘We asked for help and ended up blamed.’ Sue Foreman’s story gives harrowing insight into the desperate isolation experienced by a family struggling to help their son with multiple problems (page 6). Knocking on the doors of drug and alcohol services, doctors, mental health, social services, […]
Correct methadone dosage vital for people being treated for TB
Methadone dose optimisation is vital when treating people on opioid substitution programmes for tuberculosis (TB) and other conditions, according to new research. Researchers at Aston University’s School of Pharmacy, in partnership with Addaction, looked at how methadone interacts with drugs used to treat other medical conditions. Anti-TB drug rifampicin is known to increase the breakdown […]
Psychoactive Substances Bill
[…] penalties to many otherwise law abiding’ people. Closing ‘headshops’ could also simply displace the market, he says, while those in charge of clubs, festivals, pubs or even prisons could be liable to prosecution. The ACMD says it is willing to work with the government to draw up lists of substances to be included and […]
Working models
[…] what I have to say. But my head said, we spend a significant amount of money on treatment and recovery and the consequences of addiction in A&E, prisons and with children in care. One of the key planks to achieving sustained recovery and reintegration is growing self-esteem, earning money and having wider sets of […]
Review of the year 2019
[…] with frontline understanding.’ MARCH Funding pressures see City Roads close after 40 years, while Release warns that the amounts of naloxone being provided by local authorities and prisons are ‘drastically insufficient’. PHE and the Home Office, meanwhile, report a ‘statistically significant’ increase in crack use, driven in part by aggressive marketing. APRIL The government […]
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 current state of the sector – a perfect expression of the passion and dedication that is evident, and indeed needed, to maintain our position in the current arena. Personally I’m […]
Scotland records highest ever drug deaths
Scotland has yet again recorded its highest ever number of drug-related deaths, at 934. The 2017 figure is 8 per cent up on the previous year (DDN, September 2017, page 4) and more than double the number from a decade ago. Scotland’s drug-death rate remains the highest of any EU country, and is around two […]
Speaker Biographies
Steve Brinksman, GP Dr Steve Brinksman has been a GP in Birmingham for the past 20 years and is the clinical lead for the Substance Misuse Management in General Practice network (SMMGP), working alongside drug and alcohol users since the start of his career. He is also DDN magazine’s regular ‘Post-its from Practice’ […]
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 to claire@cjwellings.com by Wednesday 30 October to be included. Keeping the lights on The Green Party is often accused of idealism, with an unwillingness to tackle or confront the reality […]
Drug-driving arrests
Monthly drug-driving arrests top 400 More than 400 people a month are being arrested for drug driving in England and Wales, according to the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). The figure is based on statistics obtained from every police force area by IAM under a Freedom of Information request. More than 900 arrests were made […]
Brook Drive – meet the team
As part of our ‘I am a…’ series two of the team from Brook Drive, the only third sector detox service in London, tell us about their careers – and the challenges past and present. ‘My past is my greatest asset’ At our 26-bed residential detox service we offer medically assisted detoxification from drugs […]
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 may be edited for space or clarity – please limit submissions to 350 words. Clear sighted I was very heartened to read the interview with Alliance founder […]
DDN March 2024
‘We’re at a pivotal point… there’s a lot to do.’The vice chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners says that addiction involves many complex problems and ‘the solutions won’t come from medicine alone’. She was speaking at the RCGP’s joint conference with Addiction Professionals (AP) and throughout two days there was animated discussion about […]
Hepatitis can’t wait
An online event by NHS England marked the start of the 10th World Hepatitis Day, with the slogan ‘Hepatitis can’t wait’. The event reaffirmed the commitment to eliminating hepatitis C in England ahead of the world goal of 2030. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic we were still on track to do this, said […]
A Second Chance
Change Grow Live’s commitment to supporting people caught up in the criminal justice system goes right back to our approach as an organisation that believes in people. People who have been involved with the criminal justice system sometimes come from a place where they haven’t been afforded much belief. Many of them face the stigma […]
Prison Admin Support Volunteer
Do you have good administrative and interpersonal skills? Would you like to give 1 to 2 days of your time to help a Charity? This role is ideal for individuals who would like to make a difference by using their skills to support a leading Rehabilitation Charity and/or build a CV The Administration Volunteer will […]