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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 […]
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 […]
Signposting the way to elimination by 2025
[…] work with the Drugs, Alcohol and Justice Cross Party Parliamentary Group to push for research into the safety and effi cacy of needle ex- changes and other harm reduction measures to make a case for their role in reducing transmission. This could be done in conjunction with the National Institute for Health Research. Coalition members […]
Bang for your buck
[…] about Addaction’s approach to working in jails in Lincolnshire. On reception, every prisoner was offered a chemical assessment, then seen again the next morning and offered specific harm reduction advice relating to the drugs most commonly reported in the prison. Scherdel said that NPS users were less likely to engage than traditional drug users, but […]
Crack Cocaine – Cracks in the mirror
[…] the issue locally. As this nascent crack using population aren’t currently injecting or heroin-using, they won’t automatically have contact with drug services via, for example, needle exchange. Harm reduction interventions, including resources to address the needs of crack smokers, polydrug users (including crack and alcohol, use of opiates or benzos as comedown drugs) and crack […]
Media Savvy
[…] crime. It slashed heroin abuse after decriminalising drugs. British politicians are acting with criminal incompetence as other countries start to end this stupid war and focus on harm reduction. Ian Birrell, Times, 18 April ————— There are drug injection facilities in almost 70 cities around the world, but not one in the UK. That is […]
Government slashes maximum stake for Fixed Odds Betting Terminals
[…] Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) is to be cut from £100 to £2, the government has announced. The move is intended to ‘reduce the risk of gambling-related harm’. MPs and campaigners have been calling for a reduction in the maximum permitted stake for years (DDN, September 2014, page 6), with the controversial terminals frequently […]
Record number of drug-related mental health admissions
[…] highest admission rates for a primary diagnosis of poisoning by illicit drugs were also found in the 25 to 34 age range, the report states. Karen Tyrell: Harm reduction must be taken seriously ‘People with both mental health and substance misuse issues can find it extremely difficult to access mental health services,’ said Addaction spokesperson […]
Alcohol strategy is ripe for refreshment
[…] communities needed to be able to get involved in licencing decisions more easily; and alcohol labelling should be revised to include ingredients, calories and information about health harm. Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, took up the issue of MUP. Scotland intended to implement minimum unit pricing imminently she said, adding ‘it […]
The Heart of the Matter
[…] or how assiduously they abide by the clinical guidelines. ******* ALCOHOL ******* Only one person in six who needs alcohol treatment is able to access it. Alcohol harm is concentrated in our poorest communities, with 30 per cent of all alcohol consumed by 4 per cent of the population. The health damage, the societal […]
Media language enabling discrimination, says Global Commission
[…] consistent information, the report urges, while ‘opinion leaders’ in the media should promote the use of non-stigmatising language. Healthcare professionals also need to be vocal in promoting harm reduction and evidence-based interventions, while law enforcement should ‘stop acts of harassment based on negative perceptions of people who use drugs’. Michel Kazatchkine: ‘langage matters’ ‘“Addiction” remains […]
Commissioning is risking lives, say GPs
[…] to a cheaper bidder, with quality of care sacrificed in the race to slash budgets. Dr Stephen Willott: ‘The government’s drug strategy has long moved away from harm reduction, OST and choices.’ ‘There were over 3,700 drug-related deaths registered in 2016 in England and Wales – a 44 per cent increase on 2012 figures,’ said […]
There’s something in the heroin
[…] that clients believed the heroin was being cut with fentanyl or Xanax (a benzodiazepine) and witnessed people ‘going over’ (overdosing) as a result. In addition, pharmacists undertaking harm reduction training in East Riding reported users describing a change in how the heroin felt – that they were getting a quick strong hit. Benzodiazepines would be […]
More questions than answers
[…] evidence appears to be irrelevant and celebrities determined to persuade others that what has helped them is right for everyone – has promoted an anti-treatment, abstinence-only narrative. Harm reduction has been side-lined in some areas and this has had consequences. While it would be simplistic to blame the rise in drug deaths on recovery (the […]
Power of ten
[…] the gaps.’ More cuts would inevitably be on the way, she stressed, with funding for treatment likely to reduce by 30 per cent by 2021. ‘We’ve lost harm reduction services. I’m very supportive of the recovery agenda, but we need harm reduction as well.’ The ACMD had told the government that it needed to do […]
Safe Corner
[…] accord’ between police and other stakeholders, the proposal failed the test of feasibility. Resistance was attributed partly to a ‘shift in focus for substance misuse services from harm reduction to recovery a greater emphasis on abstinence’. It was unclear whether stakeholders were themselves aligned with the values of abstinence-based recovery, or whether the policy and […]