Home Search
harm reduction - search results
Search results are sorted by relevance, please use the links in the sidebar to filter your search.
August issue 2013
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. Click on […]
Homepage Features Tab
[…] the Psychoactive Substances Act has been marked by controversy. Kit Caless shares debate from Addaction’s recent conference A smack in the eye — Michael Linnell’s graphic harm reduction campaigns Thirty years after Michael Linnell’s first graphic harm reduction campaigns burst onto the scene he recalls the outrage – and the results – that spurred him on […]
Debate
[…] – but not an explosion of use. It’s been endorsed by a surprising array of organisations including the Red Cross – not marginal groups. Criminalisation creates key harms. It pushes use into unhygienic high-risk environments. It leads to people who use drugs ending up in prison. It’s unethical from a public health perspective – […]
Soapbox
[…] quantity The drink debate has become stuck on quantity. Why can’t we acknowledge that booze is a part of our lives and have an intelligent discussion about harm reduction, asks Andy Stonard Drinking alcohol in Britain has again become a perilous pastime. There have been periods in history when the people have drunk more – much […]
Psychoactive challenge
[…] less well is general drugs education literature. Saying, for example, that ‘6-APB is similar to ecstasy’ is something of a double-edged sword. While it could inform useful harm reduction, it also runs the risk of popularising and effectively advertising a new drug. 6. Keep sight of skill sets One of the key benefits of […]
DDN0903
[…] or other similar promotions are not helping and should be discouraged.â News in Brief Needle exchanges save lives andmoney www.drinkanddrugsnews.com Needle exchange programmesare not only a prime harm reduction tool, they are also an extremely cost effective use of NHS resources, according to new guidance from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). […]
Coronavirus advice
[…] and drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Link. Release: Downloadable ‘essential journey cards’ to use if people need to leave the house to pick up medication or harm reduction equipment, and other resources. Also surveying the impact of the criss on the drugs market. Link. Red Rose Recovery: View and take part in discussions in […]
The last word
[…] While there is much that can be improved about drug policies, we should not lose sight of the fact that the UK does some things very well. Harm-reduction policies, like needle and syringe exchanges, have saved many lives and kept blood-borne diseases like HIV at an internationally low rate among injecting drug users. The […]
May issue
Food for thought Worldwide inspiration on harm reduction WE ARE RIGHTLY CONCERNED ABOUT TREATMENT IDEOLOGYin this country when, more than ever, so much depends on it. In this issue’s Soapbox (page 30) Paul Hayes argues that as we move towards the new public health system, service users will be at the heart of recovery –meaning client-centred treatment […]
Shifting sands – 2012 according to DDN
While the frequently hot-tempered harm reduction/abstinence debate that had characterised previous years finally appeared to be morphing into something more measured, 2012 still saw the sector negotiating upheaval on all sides and dramatic shifts in patterns of drug use. JANUARY Perhaps fittingly for early January, 2012 begins with a call from the cross-party science and technology committee to review […]
Delayed drug strategy promises ‘national recovery champion’
[…] by drugs.’ Paul Hayes: The home secretary’s personal commitment will provide the political energy to turn aspirations into outcomes. ‘The government’s recognition that evidence-based treatment, recovery, and harm reduction services need to be at the heart of our collective response to drug misuse is very welcome,’ said Collective Voice chief executive Paul Hayes. ‘Investment in […]
Height of ecstasy
[…] reduce the risks to a generation of young people. So with exams coming to an end and the festival season underway, it is imperative that those MDMA harm reduction messages are dusted off, refreshed and communicated to the new generation of users. As ever, drug terms and slang vary from place to place and over […]
Time to talk
[…] to explore them. While we live in a time of ‘austerity’ there has to be sufficient funding in the system to adequately care for people through prevention, harm reduction, early intervention, structured community and residential interventions and aftercare – and, underlying it all, mutual aid and positive social networking. The question should be, how do […]
Picture This
[…] naloxone – and promote change. ‘But it has to be us doing it,’ he stressed. ‘No one is knocking down our door wanting to take pictures of harm reduction, recovery, anything. We have to do it ourselves.’ The media, when it did use photographs, wanted images of people ‘overdosing in doorways’, he said. ‘We need […]
UK’s first consumption room opens in Glasgow
[…] The facility aims to be open from 9am to 9pm every day for people aged 18 or over, with staff on hand to ‘monitor injecting activity, provide harm reduction advice to minimise the risk of overdose and intervene with assistance if a person does overdose’, says HSCP. The consumption room was finally green-lit by Glasgow’s […]
A social space
[…] Events Centre. Much has changed since last year’s event, with the drug supply in the UK becoming increasingly toxic – which makes the need to scale up harm reduction services crucial. ‘It’s imperative now that we use spaces like the Social Justice Conference to find our people and team up to prevent further drug deaths, […]
Aspinden Care Home – a tailored approach
[…] dedicated staff team consists of qualified nursing staff, fully trained support workers, talented chefs and a CQC registered manager and management team. The service operates within a harm reduction model, offering a safe and non-judgemental environment for people currently drinking alcohol. While stabilising alcohol use and promoting recovery is essential, we take the pragmatic approach […]
Scotland expands naloxone provision to community pharmacies
[…] community knowledge and support’. (News March 2023): Peer-to-peer naloxone programmes can help to reduce stigma and boost confidence, says a new report from the Scottish Drugs Forum Search for naloxone distribution, pharmacy roles and harm reduction vacancies on DDN jobs Read more on harm reduction, and naloxone distribution in our archive. prenoxad Scottish Drugs Forum CEO Kirsten Horsburgh
‘Significant challenges’ to meeting government’s drug strategy ambitions, warns National Audit Office
[…] needs to understand how to change behaviours’. Gareth Davies: Government needs to develop a longer-term funded plan. ‘The government has shown a clear commitment to reducing the harm caused by illegal drugs by establishing a cross departmental drugs strategy and committing £900m in the first three years,’ said NAO head Gareth Davies. ‘But much […]
Government bans nitrous oxide
[…] to appear tough on drugs,’ said executive director Niamh Eastwood. ‘Nitrous oxide is a relatively safe substance, and possible health harms could be mitigated through a large-scale harm reduction campaign, educating people on how to stay safe. There is a much bigger risk associated with criminalisation, which impacts life opportunities including education and employment.’ Criminalising […]
A smarter approach
[…] than the criminal justice system. With ‘some of the worst outcomes in the country’ in Blackpool and ‘top of the leaderboard for ten years’ for drug-related deaths, harm reduction lead for public health, Emily Davis, explained how the region was one of the original pilot sites for Project ADDER and had been given the brief […]
Free to breathe
[…] is starting to look decidedly inappropriate. There is an inverse relationship between smoking and deprivation, with the highest levels of smoking, and the highest levels of smoking-related harm, found in the poorest communities. There is probably nothing that would have a greater impact on reducing health inequalities than reducing smoking among the poorest sectors […]
Drug services see reduction in frontline staff
[…] badly affected than others.’ The findings highlighted ‘the impact of the constant cycle of local commissioning and recommissioning, which many respondents felt was disruptive to services and harmful both to clients and staff’, he continued. ‘Over three quarters of those surveyed were working to contracts of three years or less; one in four respondents […]
More than half of services see reduction in frontline staff
[…] badly affected than others.’ The findings highlighted ‘the impact of the constant cycle of local commissioning and recommissioning, which many respondents felt was disruptive to services and harmful both to clients and staff’, he continued. ‘Over three quarters of those surveyed were working to contracts of three years or less; one in four respondents […]
Nutrition toolkit final
[…] alcohol users. This might be in a residential, day care or drop-in setting, and could be for those working in treat- ment programmes employing either abstinence or harm reduction methods. The information could be equally relevant to those coming into contact with drug and alcohol users elsewhere, for example in housing, or healthcare settings. It […]
Early start
[…] strengthen referral pathways, and support systemic change. As part of the campaign, more than 1,000 healthcare professionals are expected to attend our webinar on ketamine use and harm reduction, created in response to evidence that GPs and pharmacists are not always recognising ketamine-related symptoms at an early stage. Dr Martyn Hull is clinical director at […]
Assume street drugs are contaminated with other substances, says Public Health Scotland
[…] drugs, or supporting someone else who is, to assume that they are contaminated with other drugs. Having someone who can help in an emergency is an important harm reduction measure, but there’s no safe way to take these substances.’ Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) alert: New xylazine-type drug – medetomidine available here Rapid Action Drug […]
DDN_ITS_Supplement_July25
[…] health, employment, domestic abuse and homelessness. PARTNERSHIPS Everything Intuitive Thinking Skills does is within wider partnerships, reflecting the complexity of our participants’ needs – be it clinical harm reduction, physical and mental health services, or personal resilience. Our partnerships enable the development of local recovery networks that talk to the needs of individuals and their […]
Clonazolam now Scotland’s most common street benzo
[…] themselves in the Scottish market.’ Benzodiazepines had previously contributed to ‘significantly’ increased drug-related harm and deaths in Scotland, it continues, with ‘an urgent need for evidence-based benzodiazepine harm reduction and treatment support interventions to be delivered at scale across Scotland. These should be available for community and prison settings.’ Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response […]
Deadly Serious – Review of 2025
[…] Border Force says it’s seized more of the drug in three months than in the whole of 2022-23. Meanwhile, our article on the importance of nutrition in harm reduction generates a bulging readers’ letters bag. NOVEMBER Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan – which had already plummeted by 95 per cent a year after the Taliban […]
Scotland sees 7 per cent fall in alcohol-specific deaths
[…] that excessive drinking can have, not just on people’s bodies but on their families, careers, and wider relationships. We would like to see more funding put towards harm reduction and treatment services for alcohol, to help turn this year-on-year fall in deaths into a longer-term trend.’ It was important to ensure the drop was the […]
Mutual benefit
[…] ‘So we thought, let’s go to the base of the problem – education and GPs. We looked at four things: information – ‘assume they know nothing’ – harm reduction advice, clinical presentations, and communication. Young people want to trust that you’re listening to them.’ Dr Abida Mohamed, Delphi Medical EFFECTIVE PATHWAYS When the young people […]
Rachel Fantarrow – I am a…
[…] impact the outcome that someone achieves when accessing support for substance use. My role is so varied and can range from things like delivering training, writing guides, harm reduction, medicine management, audits, presenting at external events, community pharmacy visits, destruction of CDs, incident management, drug alerts, managing other pharmacy technicians, recruitment and induction. WHAT DO […]
DDN November 2024
[…] been round the block a few times… but some things have changed very little. We still need a robust (and honest) alcohol strategy. We still talk about harm reduction as if it’s optional. We still rediscover a link between substance use and mental health. We’re still finding that releasing people from prison without all-round life […]
Drug-related deaths up more than 10 per cent
[…] NHS much worse. As mental health issues, financial struggles, inequalities, and dangerous synthetic drugs continue to fuel the crisis, we must do everything possible to make sure harm reduction services reach those most at risk. We are at a critical moment, and strongly urge the government to respond to the calls from the Association of […]
No time to lose
The latest meeting of the APPG on Drugs, Alcohol and Justice was dedicated to looking at alcohol harm and treatment. Guest speakers were from VIA, introduced by the charity’s chair Yasmin Batliwala, who shared statistics to demonstrate the cost – both to individuals’ health and to services. The team would give thoughts on clinical […]
Loop to resume drug testing for festival season
[…] where members of the public can submit drugs they intend to use for testing, and which are then returned to them. Katy Porter: Accurate information enables effective harm reduction ‘The drug market is changing, and we are able to plan and prepare in our harm reduction messaging and response when we are informed regarding the […]
DDN 1402
[…] policies p6 ROOM AT THE TABLE? Discussing funding opportunities at the Creating Recovery conference p18 PROFILE Mat Southwell talks about three decades of work in advocacy and harm reduction p16 w.dr.dinkwwadu 50 YEARS OF DRUG SERVICES IN THE NATIONS CAPITAL w.drinikanrikugsenacursnoisnskm In acSocsanNisu111n 7rkN n57 duossman Nsmsnsur7dmkgseno7n-m75cesn 75smucgionkrr7bb7ekoc7uncunoiscmn 7Nuni7bsan27mnoi7asnI7dugnr csuoan Ni7nikenu7Nismsno7ng713 FE A TU RES […]
Met seizes 150,000 nitazene tablets
[…] needed to address the escalating drug crisis in the UK (Partner Updates, September 2023): Release, alongside EuroNPUD and other drug treatment service colleagues in the UK, have produced harm reduction advice on nitazenes. (News, January 2023): Fentanyl behind 80% increase in New York’s overdose deaths Search the DDN archive for more on nitazenes, fentanyl and synthetic opioids. […]
Open market
[…] sent one of the most vilified substances on the planet. Accompanied by other, highly fresh Hot Topics talks on naloxone, legal highs, club drugs, the drug trade, harm reduction, sex work, employing users and policing, Power’s presentation shed light on the world’s rapidly changing drug market, and with it, a whole new raft of problems […]
DDN Conference 2023 session three: Voices of experience
[…] Ban the Box – a campaign to increase opportunities for people with convictions to compete for jobs: unlock.org.uk/project/ban-the-box BDP – Bristol Drugs Project is a charity providing harm reduction and treatment services for people who are experiencing a negative relationship with drugs and/or alcohol: www.bdp.org.uk Bill Nellis – Drug user activist and founder of the […]
Scotland calls for decriminalisation of all drugs
[…] calls on the UK government to implement decriminalisation ‘of all drugs for personal supply’. The document’s other proposals include immediate legislative changes to allow full implementation of harm reduction measures like consumption rooms and drug checking, and a ‘roadmap for further exploration of drug law reform’. The proposals follow recommendations made by the Drug Deaths […]
Remodelling our alcohol support
[…] on need, choice, and health. We have recognised that we need to work differently, ensuring we develop partnerships to support the varied levels of treatment options, from harm reduction advice and information to brief interventions and community detoxification. We have developed specific pathways for older people and those in the criminal justice system. Whilst this […]
Drinking age
[…] a nationwide public health campaign to show older people not only the extent of the problem but also how they can play a part in their own harm reduction.’ While Dry January is very much based around people who are already health-aware, what’s needed with older people is something to raise that awareness of harm, […]
British Army extends funding for Project Reset
[…] UK. While our Mil-SMART recovery programme will continue as a weekly support group available within the Catterick Garrison Community Hub and as a virtual offer, Project Reset focuses on harm reduction and prevention. It uses presentations to whole units around the dangers and consequences of alcohol use, gambling, and other addictive behaviours, while also educating people how […]
Your letters
[…] system or reduction of benefits’ is not the key, but the ‘evidence-based approach’ he and Caroline Lucas advocate is apparently nothing more than ‘a reduction of drug-related harms’ – not a reduction in drug usage and not a reduction in the number of addicted drug users, both voluntary and involuntary. In my 38 years […]
Another record year for England and Wales drug deaths
[…] over the long term a health-based focus improves outcomes in multiple areas – health, a reduced burden on the criminal justice system, and a reduced cost to society as a whole. Health-based enhanced harm reduction techniques are required here in Wales to help make a step change in outcomes.’ Martin Blakebrough, CEO, Kaleidoscope
Your letters
[…] am told if I give a person a needle and syringe I should record that as the starting point for a person’s recovery journey rather than a harm reduction intervention. The action is the same but the words have changed. The government strategy is condemned by its own think tank, The Centre for Social Justice, […]
Crunch time
[…] was ‘really good news’, he said, and it was important to separate the policy detail from the political framing that accompanied its publication. ‘Although the phrase “ harm reduction” isn’t leaping off every page, one of the three key metrics that the strategy picks out is about reducing harm and deaths.’ The focus on workforce […]
News in brief
[…] Anne Foster. Status report on alcohol and health in 35 European countries 2013 at www.euro.who.int New release Release has launched its new website, featuring a dedicated harm reduction section as well as enhanced policy and legal advice pages. ‘We’re really excited about the new website, which we believe is one of most comprehensive and […]
Be well aware
[…] using the faces of people with lived experience to get its message across. Read about it in DDN Magazine ‘For me it’s about saving a life,’ says harm reduction activist Lee Collingham, one of the faces of the landmark, country-wide naloxone awareness campaign launched last month (see news, page 5). ‘Some areas still haven’t got […]
Drug control a health and human rights ‘disaster’, says IDPC
[…] women and ethnic minority groups, fuelling poverty and inequality, the report says. ‘Women who use drugs are particularly vulnerable to health harms, but their access to gender-sensitive harm reduction and treatment services has not improved over the past five years. Stigma, criminalisation, fear of loss of child custody and other punitive measures play a major […]
Online tool to help find a needle and syringe service
[…] treatment and in reducing the spread of bloodborne viruses like Hepatitis C. At the same time, With You is also releasing a host of online, diagram based harm reduction advice to encourage people who use drugs to do so more safely, including advice on how to use the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, how to […]
The Right Questions
Read the full article in DDN Magazine Now in its 30th year, the Unlinked Anonymous Monitoring Survey is a vital tool for harm reduction, says Emily Phipps. This year the Unlinked Anonymous Monitoring Survey (UAM) of people who inject drugs celebrates its 30th anniversary in England and Wales and 18th anniversary in Northern Ireland, making […]
Coronavirus guidance issued for providers and commissioners
[…] should be taking steps to ‘keep face-to-face contacts between staff and service users to a minimum’ and minimising use of biological drug testing, it says. Provision of harm reduction measures and take-home naloxone, should be increased where possible Given the pressure the on NHS and other services it will ‘mostly be necessary to defer drug […]
No time to lose
[…] and urged the group to think about drugs as a global issue. ‘There is an incredible amount of deaths that could have been prevented by access to harm reduction,’ she said. ‘Stigma, lack of access to services and criminalisation make negative experiences for people who use drugs.’ Globally, just as locally, ‘we can’t just think […]
July issue
[…] relevance to you. But the opportunity to share experience with other countries gives fresh perspective and evidence from experience – not just on the effectiveness of incarceration, but on harm reduction measures and their effect on drug users’ behaviour and welfare. It also gives us a rare opportunity to stand back and assess what works back home. This week […]
January issue
[…] Masetti says in our article, it’s important that drug teams know the specifics about these drugs so they are confident in treating clients and know how to dispense essential harm reduction advice. As we begin a new year in which ‘recovery’ is the only flavour for many, the anthrax cases among heroin users in Scotland are a stark reminder […]
DDN July_August 2019
[…] looking for professional, dynamic and results orientated individuals to implement and execute commercial strategies to grow the business through education, solution selling and collaboration. Experience in a harm reduction / needle exchange setting would be an advantage. Ideal locations include Birmingham, Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Oxford, Reading and London. We welcome yobr application. For more […]
CZAR GAZING – So how are we doing?
[…] recent trends seem to indicate that this effect is waning). We have been successful in keeping drug-related HIV infections low. The UK was an early adopter of harm reduction practices such as needle exchanges in the 1980s. As a direct result, HIV transmission rates from injecting drug use have remained among the lowest in the […]