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Now hear this
[…] symptoms. One of the drugs George used were pills advertised as ‘pressed oxycodone M30s’. It didn’t take long for George to develop a dependency. Most of the harm reduction conversations around nitazenes in the UK thus far have focused on reducing risks among people whose drugs have been contaminated with nitazenes, assuming that the user […]
Different class
[…] fundamental ‘harm reductionist’, and I’m back there again. It seems to me that the primary response to the challenges that face us today is good old fashioned harm reduction. At the time of writing the working class are once again being demonised by polite middle class society. Who would have thought that John Major’s ‘condemn […]
Recovery Month reflections: Forward’s in-person recovery event for London-based staff
[…] featuring synthetic drugs, alcohol unit measuring cups, and beer goggles for educational purposes. Forward Trust Services: Shared vital information on dependency, recovery processes, local treatment providers, and harm reduction. There were also lots of fun activities, such as live music and line dancing, a substance misuse awareness quiz, and an award ceremony to celebrate the […]
Cranstoun micro-eliminates hepatitis C across Sandwell
[…] in Sandwell is a major public health victory for our community. This reflects our tailored, local approach – ensuring those most affected have access to vital testing, harm reduction services, and life-saving treatments right here in Sandwell. ‘By working closely with local partners, addressing stigma, and making care accessible, we’ve not only transformed individual lives […]
A fair exchange
[…] for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.’ They are also harm reduction innovators extraordinaire (my words). In practice, what I saw on the ‘coalface’ was top-quality and innovative harm minimisation products and educational information being developed, produced and […]
Largest ever trial of ketamine-assisted therapy underway
[…] affect not only the individual but families, friends and communities, and related deaths have increased still further since the pandemic,’ said consultant psychiatrist Professor Rupert McShane. ‘Alcohol-related harm is estimated to cost the NHS around £3.5 bn each year, and wider UK society around £40 bn. We urgently need new treatments. If this trial establishes […]
Fall in suspected Scottish drug deaths
[…] reports of police officers attending scenes of death, and used to provide a ‘timely indication of trends and to detect any potential recent changes or clusters of harm’, PHS points out. They do not provide the same ‘robust’ indication of the number of drug-related fatalities as the official annual figures from National Records of […]
One in six vapes confiscated in schools contained spice
[…] then they’ve got a chance of making a different choice.’ While the issue is being addressed regionally, he urged the government to ‘elevate it to a national harm reduction priority’, he stated. ‘I call on the Home Office and the Department for Education to highlight this problem and to provide police forces and schools with […]
London Homelessness Awards
[…] team includes peer mentors with lived experience of homelessness and substance use who provide advice and guidance to support people on their recovery journey. The also give harm reduction advice if a person is not yet ready to make a change in their substance use. Turning Point and The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea […]
Two million global alcohol-related deaths among men, says WHO
[…] were from noncommunicable diseases – including 470,000 from cardiovascular disease and more than 400,000 from cancer. ‘There is a complex relationship between substance use, alcohol- and drug-related harms and socioeconomic status, and people with lower socioeconomic status are disproportionally affected by harms due to substance use,’ the document states. ‘The impact of alcohol, tobacco […]
Let’s be Stronger Together
[…] strong synthetic opioids have dominated, with everyone pulled into emergency planning and better communication. Drug consumption rooms have become acknowledged at the highest level as a basic harm reduction tool that cannot be ignored. Drug strategy ambitions have translated into a widespread recruitment drive and a focus on the training and skills needed. Now we […]
Exclusion zones
[…] themselves in a particularly marginalised situation, forced into navigating a system that doesn’t work for them. And yet there’s great inclusive practice for both ARBD-specific care and harm reduction. In future articles we’ll look at how best practice can mitigate stigma-related barriers. Right now though we need your help. Hopefully you can see why this […]
Slight fall in ‘staggeringly high’ US drug death figures
[…] by all of our partners in this effort and the work being done on the ground as part of a coordinated federal effort on prevention, services, and harm reduction. However, this does not mean we have accomplished our mission. The data show we still lost over 100,000 people last year, meaning there are still families […]
Nitazenes – new drugs, new risks
[…] Trust CEO Mike Trace. ‘But we also know that there are public health measures that can help reduce overdose death risks – accessible and accurate safety advice, harm reduction services, and offering people living with addiction a practical way out.’ A special programme, The New Drug Threat, can be found on BBC iPlayer. This blog […]
Full to bursting
[…] connection with housing or benefits professionals, or some other kind of social capital. So it was principally about education and awareness, but also an open door to harm reduction according to that person’s needs, and the drug services were really keen. We had a working group – as well as our partner Druglink we had […]
Strength in numbers
[…] to same-day prescribing and treatment options. Once someone has completed their initial assessment, we can help them right away with things like testing for blood-borne viruses and harm reduction interventions including free naloxone kits and training. If we’re able to secure a GP summary, and with other relevant tests completed, we can safely prescribe them […]
Raising the alarm on synthetic opioids – why the UK should not be complacent
[…] that the drug market in the UK is shifting in a worrying direction. Yet, we know there are measures we can take. Accessible and accurate safety advice, harm reduction services, and always offering people living with addiction a practical way out. At policy level, the government and local authorities have to get over their squeamishness […]
Confidentiality key in drug-checking services, says study
[…] earlier this year in Bristol. The Scottish study was carried out between 2021 and 2023 in partnership with Public Health Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University, NHS Tayside and harm reduction charity Crew. Participants – who included charity and NHS staff, police, and people with experience of drug use and their families – were interviewed about a range of […]
Language Barriers
[…] – or who are currently using – are comfortable with.’ It was also important to challenge definitions of recovery that had been externally imposed, said Jon Findlay, harm reduction lead at Humankind. ‘If I don’t stop using drugs, I’m not a successful treatment outcome – I’m not a success until I can tick a box […]
Working at WithYou: Emma and Jade’s pharmacy technician journeys
[…] best treatment for our clients.’ What’s the best thing about being a pharmacy technician? Emma: ‘There’s no better feeling than knowing you are helping clients by offering harm reduction advice and getting the knowledge out there that overdoses can be prevented. Building relationships with people, like local pharmacies, and bridging the gap to help make […]
Early Intervention
[…] likely to externalise problems and to act out anger and distress through antisocial behaviour, and girls to internalise their responses in the form of depression and self- harm. Substance misuse services for young people may need to consider these gender issues. The toll of trauma The impact of such adverse experiences can be profound. […]
Simple Solutions
[…] Somerset Council. (The DDN Conference 2023): Cranstoun’s Worcestershire service talk about their peer-led naloxone team, PACKS – ‘peer-assisted community knowledge and support’. Search for naloxone distribution and harm reduction vacancies on DDN jobs Read more on harm reduction and naloxone distribution in our archive. reading the safer injection guide naloxone posters naloxone training naloxone posters […]
New app helps to locate free naloxone
[…] and needle exchanges that offer free naloxone has been launched by Turning Point and Somerset Council. (The DDN Conference 2023): Cranstoun’s Worcestershire service talk about their peer-led naloxone team, PACKS – ‘peer-assisted community knowledge and support’. Search for naloxone distribution and harm reduction vacancies on DDN jobs Read more on harm reduction and naloxone distribution in our archive.
Rough Treatment
[…] for everything, and we still find ourselves regularly stumped on advocacy cases. Much of what we’ve achieved would not be possible without help from others in the harm reduction world, who have generously shared examples of good practice, specialist resources, and strategy ideas for our advocacy cases. We want to return that kindness by sharing […]
Nurses at drug and alcohol recovery service in Rochdale and Oldham nominated for national...
[…] house or they’ll go and see them in a hospital or in a hostel. “Our nurses recognise that some of our clients don’t go and see the GP or they don’t attend hospital appointments. We need to reach these clients and give them harm reduction advice and make it easier for them to access services.” Annie Lynn, senior operations manager at ROAR added, “Some of the people we work with have a multitude of issues that […]
My road, my choice
[…] others it is having a stable base line – controlled use. Others want medication and to be substance free. Then there are those who simply want effective harm reduction. All of them are valid, all roads should be included. It’s not mine or anyone else’s role to tell users what’s the best road – that’s […]
Review of the year 2013
[…] substances and the Organization of American States issues a landmark report looking at different options for the future of Latin American drug policy. June The 23rd International Harm Reduction conference sees policy makers and service users gather in Vilnius to ‘reclaim’ harm reduction from those who seek to define it as a ‘morally suspect, clinical […]
Bringing care to the streets of Hackney
[…] We have weekly meetings with professionals from other organisations to make sure our high-risk clients are being cared for. “We’re also able to give out food vouchers, harm reduction medicine – such as Naloxone (to reduce death by overdose), and help signpost toward accommodation when the temperatures drop below freezing. “Each week the clinical van […]
Delivering a blended approach to substance use and mental health provision at New Oakwood...
[…] to achieve with our blended approach for example, improvement in peoples’ mental well-being and health including treating anxiety and depression, reduction in mental health crises and suicide/self- harm attempts, improved retention, reduction in early leavers and a potential reduction in psychiatric medication Read the full blog post here. DDN magazine is a free publication […]
Welsh drug deaths up by almost half
[…] public health burden caused by alcohol,’ said Alcohol Health Alliance chair Professor Sir Ian Gilmore. ‘We are hopeful that this represents the start of a new approach to alcohol harm from the government, with the enormous costs from alcohol harm better offset with fairer duty policies.’ Harm reduction database Wales: drug-related mortality at https://phw.nhs.wales Rick Lines
A fine balance
[…] monitored to ensure that they are overcome. The MSIC and indeed my ongoing work at the Kirketon Road Centre, where we deliver a comprehensive range of integrated harm reduction and sexual health services in the same area of the city, have convinced me that local solutions are needed for local problems – one-size solutions will […]
US drug deaths up by 15 per cent
[…] the previous year – with overdose deaths increasing in every US state except Hawaii. The Biden administration recently launched its first drug strategy, with a marked shift towards harm reduction policies in an attempt to tackle the country’s ‘overdose epidemic’ (DDN, May, page 5). ‘Once again, we are devastated by these numbers,’ said Jules Netherland of […]
High Impact
[…] street heroin. ‘Some individuals may slip up, but in terms of their overall level of heroin use it’s a dramatic reduction, and there’s been significant reduction in harm.’ People who had been regularly visiting hospital for wounds and infections were no longer attending, and clients had reduced their overall consumption of other substances. There […]
Opening doors
[…] much easier for someone to walk through it. The team brandish naloxone kits when they’re out and about – a conversation starter as well as a vital harm reduction intervention. They wear their naloxone shirts and are proud to spread the word as Medway naloxone peers. On their route down the high street they stop […]
Changing profile
[…] from our websites. Starting with those who may not have extensive knowledge, it was decided that the following subjects would be the most helpful in offering straightforward harm reduction advice for naive injectors, as well as those who might be interested in exploring potential alternatives to steroid use. The five leaflets focused on: • When […]
Met should routinely carry naloxone, says London Assembly Health Committee
London’s mayor should work with the Metropolitan Police to ensure that its officers routinely carry naloxone spray, according to a new harm reduction report from the London Assembly Health Committee. The committee also want to see consumption rooms piloted in London Police Scotland recently announced that it was rolling out its pilot naloxone programme across […]
Into the matrix
[…] to 1975. With the groundwork already done, this ambitious superstructure could be constructed. Understanding the matrices In May 2013, the result was the Matrices – one for harm reduction and treatment of problems related to the use of illegal drugs (http://bit.ly/1ca1bA3), and one for brief interventions and treatment of alcohol-related problems (http://bit.ly/12aGdQd). The best way […]
Soapbox
[…] and about how far it extends, given the complex and multiple needs of many young people who inject drugs. Children and young people are often hidden within harm reduction services due to age restrictions and fears around asking and documenting age. In some countries, legal systems criminalise children as young as eight for drug use […]
Drug deaths in England and Wales up again
[…] highest levels of drug related deaths linked to drug dependency. Investment in these communities, adequate housing, restoring benefits to a decent level, along with drug policy and harm reduction initiatives can save lives. Niamh Eastwood, executive director, Release Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales: 2020 registrations at www.ons.gov.uk Drug Related Deaths […]
August issue 2013
[vc_column_text css=””] In this month’s issue of DDN… ‘It is a project that is consistent with the practice and principles of harm reduction, and its street-based focus provides culturally relevant opportunities for interaction and communication…’ This August issue, read about The Ana Liffey Project’s innovative harm reduction response to street-based injecting drug use in Dublin. […]
With You launches needle exchange search engine
[…] services Accessible via the organisation’s website, the tool provides full details of local NSPs sorted by postcode. The charity has also released a new series of online harm reduction advice, including on safer injecting, responding to an overdose, using naloxone correctly, and safer use of other drugs such powder and crack cocaine and steroids. It […]
We need to talk about pleasure
[…] one’s own recovery it might be time to find another narrative. Our negative attitude to pleasure can even be seen to limit the effectiveness of what little harm reduction we practise. The work of Magdalena Harris, associate professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine and a leading researcher, suggests that the most […]
Aiming High
[…] not seeing friends at school and being at home constantly. He is classified as high risk as he self-harms regularly and feels he can’t disclose his self- harm experiences to other professionals. He now looks forward to the increased telephone and video calls from his worker that are helping him to manage his self-harming […]
DDN July/August 2020
[…] issue, p9), we have an insight into domestic abuse support (p12), while Kevin Flemen looks out for young people in the summer party season with some targeted harm reduction advice (p9). As Bill Nelles (p14) would be the first to remind us, harm reduction must stay top of the agenda so we’re pleased to see […]
Your letters
[…] them to the address on page 3. Letters may be edited for space or clarity – please limit submissions to 350 words. Citric question As a harm reduction worker at the Cairn Centre, the main needle exchange in the centre of Dundee, I wondered if any of your readers could answer a question. We […]
News Focus
[…] the greatest challenges, however, was identifying parental alcohol misuse, she stressed. ‘Many families are dealing with alcohol use that the user doesn’t think is a problem.’ Hidden Harm While parental substance use was often linked with mental health issues, poverty and domestic violence, and was a key factor in children being taken into care, […]
Frontline reporting
[…] There is, and always has been, a war on drug users’ had been adopted by activists across the world. Even Margaret Thatcher had seen the value in harm reduction, she stressed, ‘although obviously not for our sakes. But since then we’ve basically gone round and round in circles, in a roughly ten-year cycle. So what […]
In the Picture
[…] as contracting COVID. There had been impressive collaboration within the sector, and some innovative developments including trialling a ‘click and collect’ model for needles and other essential harm reduction equipment. But there was also an increase in mental health issues from the boredom, loneliness and a situation that ‘has been really tough for everybody’. ‘We’ve […]
Gender imbalance
[…] Overall, very few clients (about 1 per cent) report concerns about having symptoms of coronavirus. Interestingly, only a similarly small amount reported problems accessing medicines, healthcare or harm-reduction supplies – however this finding is unlikely to be representative of all people who use drugs or have problems with alcohol, as the monitoring is being […]
Heroin Assisted Treatment – A helping hand
[…] The new wave of heroin use in the ’80s spread throughout Europe, accompanied by the spread of HIV and AIDS. While Britain was an early adopter of harm-reduction measures including needle exchange, oral methadone was established as the main form of maintenance prescribing. Approaches in other countries Switzerland tried a different approach to harm reduction, […]
DDN 2020 Programme
[…] groups by sharing their own experiences of hepatitis C and treatment, peers integrate messages that raise awareness, reduce stigma, inform people of transmission routes and treatments, support harm reduction interventions to active users and provide support and direct to hepatitis C treatment. 12.30pm – 1.10pm Tackling the ‘us and them’ How can we use […]
What’s in a name?
[…] to consider which psychosocial interventions we are using and how effective they are. Using previous NDTMS data sets may have yielded information on very important aspects of harm reduction – such as offer and acceptance of BBV vaccinations or prevalence of injecting – but what has been missing is the ability to record the psychosocial […]
DDN2june10
[…] effective, contains a number of significant flaws and is unlikely to produce robust results. If implemented, we believe the pilot runs a high risk of causing significant harm’ – including moving drug users away from treatment, disengaging them from the welfare to work system and damaging relationships between advisers and claimants. ‘Under the current […]
DDNoct11
[…] . b It is, of course, quite hard to get accurate statistics on the use of illegal drugs, since even people who aren’t the chancellor of the exchequer tend, when they’re asked about it, to be a bit coy… Drugs, like stories about Tory politicians and dominatrixes, will always be with us. If we can’t get rid of them, we can find ways to reduce their harm. Only a masochistic society wouldn’t. Christina Patterson, The Independent, 14 September We are always told that the authorities have given up on cannabis so that they can be ‘freed up’ to pursue other drugs, allegedly worse, and the ‘evil dealers’ who sell them. Since cannabis can unpredictably […]
DDN May 2019
[…] Lana Durjava’s words in this month’s cover story (page 6); yet according to Mike Trace (page 8), ‘too many people in the sector still see the abstinence/ harm reduction issue in binary terms’. We have failed to achieve a balance between healthcare provision and recovery pathways, he argues. Is this your experience? One certainty is […]
Beyond the gate
[…] director, Mike Pattinson. ‘We have been taking this approach in our prison-based services for some time and shall continue to do so as part of our overall harm reduction plan.’ For Forward Trust, whose substance misuse work spans 18 prisons, ‘a more organised and structured approach to promoting naloxone’, began at HMP Lewes. By having […]
Giving the best chance
[…] up or down’. It was important to keep the perspective of delivering PSI as part of an integrated service that included opioid substitution treatment (OST) and other harm reduction initiatives, said Mitcheson. ‘Some recovery services don’t understand harm reduction, and that’s a problem.’ Another major challenge was the ever-changing drugs market – how was the […]