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The exploitation involved in ‘county lines’ is an urgent call for action, as DDN reports. The brutal killing of a 16-year-old boy shook his community in Shropshire. How had this happened on the streets of Shrewsbury? As the investigation began, a picture emerged that took all of the support services by surprise. Michael had been […]

Dame Black has spoken loud and clear. How policy makers respond will be crucial.

The morning’s second session, chaired by Peter Hunter, allowed audience members to put their concerns to some of the sector’s key players The new drug strategy is one of my key priorities,’ minister for preventing abuse, exploitation and crime, Karen Bradley, told delegates via video, and the government was looking for meaningful input to make […]

Big spenders Drug users in the US spend an estimated $100bn annually on cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine, according to a White House-commissioned report from the Rand Corporation. Total expenditure is driven by a ‘minority of heavy users who consume on 21 or more days each month’, says What America’s users spend on illegal drugs, […]

 Whatever you feel about existing data collection systems – and we know that many of you feel very strongly that they have taken over your job and burrowed into client time – there is no doubt that the NTA has consulted carefully before introducing the new Treatment Outcomes Profile system (page 10). Its designers, addiction researchers Dr John Marsden and Dr Michael […]

Bringing together social work students and people in recovery gave an opportunity to share skills and knowledge, as Marelize Joubert reports. Attending a substance misuse conference with the theme of recovery gave social work students at Sheffield Hallam University the chance to find out more about drug and alcohol services, listen first hand to peer mentors’ […]

[…] to appreciate our services IDS will say they are not fit for purpose and we will be back to the mid ’90s – from what I hear prisons are already at mid ’90s standards. Yes drugs are continuing to change, but drug use is increasing while service provision is reducing, so please don’t buy […]

Green future Transform has launched a new publication on regulating legal markets for non-medical use of cannabis. How to regulate cannabis: a practical guide looks at the challenges of developing and implementing an effective approach, with the regulation debate now firmly part of the mainstream according to co-author Steve Rolles. ‘With so many countries leading […]

The lockdown has forced services providing domestic abuse support to become even more resourceful and innovative, says Miranda Hawtrey. Read the full article in DDN magazine Working in a setting supporting those with addiction issues and complex needs is always a delicate balancing act. But when the coronavirus outbreak swept through the UK in March […]

[…] we go and meet people – our own personal experiences have allowed us to recognise the importance of late-night outreach.’ Bubic also carried out inreach work in prisons, he said, with a particular focus on trying to ‘encourage emotional intelligence and self-awareness’ prior to release. ‘People get “gate happy” and the risk is they’ll […]

A new drugs unit will be set up to help ‘end illegal drug-related illness and deaths’, the government has stated, following the publication of the second part of Professor Dame Carol Black’s Independent review of drugs. The Joint Combating Drugs Unit will bring together multiple departments of state – the Department of Health and Social […]

[…] difficult subjects with their children? Drug, alcohol 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 […]

‘Being responsive is central to how we work’ We talk about ‘the workforce’ and there are new strategies  on the way – so it’s been interesting to look at the first census of its kind in England. It gives a snapshot of who we are – and shows that lived experience has become an important […]

[…] Treatment and testing for hep C has improved dramatically in recent years, but with more diagnoses happening at different locations – drugs and outreach services, GP surgeries, prisons – it’s crucial that organisations have systems in place that can process and share patient information efficiently. Eradicating the virus will only happen if the many […]

In January the London Joint Working Group on Substance Use and Hepatitis C (LJWG) launched a new report on the case for a peer-based needle exchange in London – designed by, and run by, the people who know how these services can work best (see news, page 5). Peers have lived experience of injecting drug […]

Opportunities are being missed to create a treatment system accessible to all, writes Karen Biggs, Chief Executive at Phoenix Futures. Under cover of the dramatic reshuffle, the Government has announced additional funding for drug and alcohol treatment of £267m from April 2024. This is the third year of additional monies committed to support the Government’s […]

The Metropolitan Police has made what it says is the largest ever seizure of synthetic opioids in the UK. Around 150,000 nitazene tablets were...

The Calico Group is pleased to welcome Tom Woodcock as Director of Treatment and Recovery in a new role.

Are residential treatment centres up to scratch? In explaining the new star rating system, David Finney mentions that the drug and alcohol sector performs better than most (page 6). Clearer signposts to good (and not so good) treatment should give clients and commissioners better choice, and prompt the poorer performers to shape up for survival.  The lottery of service standards becomes […]

[…] services’, and that should worry us all at a time where overdose deaths have doubled in the UK and the government is planning to build more private prisons. To give credit where it is due, Brand is an ardent advocate for ending the war on drugs and in his book Revolution he gives a […]

Effective treatment starts with a meaningful partnership, says Dr Steve Brinksman. We recently had a new doctor join our practice who had worked elsewhere for a number of years. I was chatting to her about how she was settling in and interested to hear that she felt the biggest difference was that we were a […]

More than 120 killings of children and young people were carried out in the Philippines between July 2016 and December 2019, according to a report by the Geneva-based World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Philippine Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center. Just under 40 per cent of the killings were carried out by the […]

Information, advice, and useful resources on coronavirus for treatment services, service users, and people who use drugs. Please send us any information you or your...

Stanton Peele challenges the received wisdom of the 12-step approach I recently received this email from a UK addictions worker: ‘Stanton, I was in a public health meeting today (well I was until I walked out). The government focus is currently all about facilitating 12-step engagement. I tried to make some kind of stand, and […]

The government needs to invest an additional £552m in the drug treatment system over the next five years through the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), says the second part of Professor Dame Carol Black’s Independent review of drugs – one of more than 30 recommendations in the long-awaited document. An additional £15m in employment […]

Alongside last month’s welcome confirmation of treatment funding until 2025, the government also announced more than £50m to provide targeted housing support for people in treatment and recovery – the first time this has happened as part of a national drug strategy. DDN hears from OHID’s Rosanna O’Connor about the grant’s aims and ambitions. Last […]

Harm reduction is not the preserve of one community September is a glorious opportunity to celebrate recovery month and we’re delighted to hear about the activities taking place all over the country. The Recovery Games in Doncaster (page 16) sums up the spirit of events and we’re looking forward to following what’s happening around the […]

Forward’s employment service director Asi Panditharatna looks at what the organisation has achieved over the last year and goals for 2022. Happy New Year to our commissioners, funders, partners, employers and the people we support. In 2021 we had an amazing year providing more employability, vocational training, careers advice and enterprise support services to people […]

[…] rooms, the other five key interventions are listed as sterile injecting equipment, voluntary and confidential infectious disease testing, infectious disease treatment, opioid agonist treatment – including in prisons – and finally, vaccinations against hep A and B, respiratory infections, tetanus, and the pneumococcal and the human papillomavirus vaccines for people living with HIV who inject […]

The government’s drug strategy brought increased investment, fresh ideas and a renewed focus on the importance of drug treatment services in local communities. We’ll be about three years into this ten-year strategy when parliament is dissolved, government offices are cleared out and we march to the polls to pick our representatives for the coming years.  […]

With huge strides being made towards finally eradicating hep C it was vital that we kept up the momentum, heard delegates at LJWG’s Three years to go to elimination conference. ‘We now have three years to achieve our shared goal of elimination of hepatitis C as a public health issue in London,’ London Joint Working […]

[…] how many people would turn up. But I looked forward to the day, wondering what would be said – and if I would have the courage to say or ask anything.  I was really surprised by the turnout. The people that attended obviously cared about what was going on in our criminal justice system and the fact that there were women in jail, and that maybe most them shouldn’t be.  The lady who had organised the conference came over and gave me a little slip of paper with a question on it that she would like me to read out for one of the prisoners. She  also  explained  that  the  whole  conference  was  being  recorded  for  a  BBC programme, and I tried not to panic.  The question was to panellist Eoin McLennon-Murray. It said: ‘Why does probation constantly over populate our  prisons for breeching? If circumstances were taken into consideration,  sometimes  the  reasons  should  be  valid  and  recognised.  After  all  it costs over £53,bbb to the tax player to put/keep someone in prison for a year.’ He  replied  that  he  agreed  probation  held  too  much  power  when  it  came  […]

Never under-estimate the power of kindness and a safe space. The SWOP project featured in our cover story showcases the best kind of outreach – meeting people at the stage they’re at, offering comfort and safety first and foremost, and then providing the first links to a network of support. It’s a way of working, […]

[…] there to give to others – targeting those high-population areas is really important.’ Inadequate supply Another alarming finding from the Release document was that only half of prisons and one in five young offender institutions were actually providing naloxone to those leaving custody – this despite the up-to-eightfold increase in risk of a drug-related […]

In the fourth part of his personal story, Mark Dempster pushes his luck to the limits abroad and comes home for a dose of harsh reality. I spent my break in Morocco drinking poppy tea and smoking hash. I hitched a lift in the middle of nowhere with some German tourists. We stopped by some […]

Following the Drugs, Alcohol and Justice APPG’s look at the challenges for women accessing treatment in last month’s DDN, Anna Whitton describes some developments at WDP and across the sector when it comes to improving women’s treatment provision. The Collective Voice ‘Women’s Treatment Working Group’ launched on International Women’s Day 2021. Comprised of female leaders […]

Lack of stable accommodation makes it almost impossible to recover from substance issues. In the third of our latest commissioning series, we look at strong partnerships across the homelessness and substance misuse sectors. If it’s possible to draw any positives at all from the COVID pandemic, one might be that it demonstrated what proper joined-up […]

Our ‘anonymous drama’ (AD) programme has been supporting people in recovery, both in residential settings and community groups, for several years now – with spectacular results. When I’m describing it to someone who has never heard of it, I usually say it’s like ‘drama therapy’ for people who often have no interest in either drama […]

The Word on the Streets This year’s Hit Hot Topics asked, how can we give harm reduction most impact on the frontline? DDN reports, pics by Nigel Brunsdon. ‘What the heck are we doing, criminalising people for what they do to themselves?’ Nanna Gotfredson is the founder of Gadejuristen, the ‘Street Lawyers’ of Denmark. She […]

DDN is a free independent publication that works in partnership with some of the major charities and treatment providers in the sector.   Our partners provide expert input into the publication to help provide the best possible up-to-date news and features from the substance misuse field. If you are looking for a treatment service please […]

The Achieve partnership’s cross-sector approach is making a real difference to people’s lives in the Greater Manchester area, says Dr Jonathan Dewhurst. Read it in DDN Achieve is the community alcohol and drug recovery service for Bolton, Bury, Salford and Trafford, led by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH). We provide support and […]

Yes you can! Build on Belief (BoB) recently held their eighth annual award ceremony and celebrated their ten-year anniversary through an evening of entertainment and celebration at Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall. One of BoB’s volunteers, Kelly, explained how helping other service users got her back on track: ‘I had a rocky few years. Volunteering […]

[…] covering.   This circulation ensures that we are available not just to those working in specialist treatment but are also read by the wider health and social care sector, housing, mental health services, prisons and criminal justice. To find out about advertising a job, event or service please contact ian@cjwellings.com     DDN email updates

Funding cuts have left treatment and recovery services ‘on their knees’, commissioning has ‘become fragmented with little accountability for outcomes’ and partnerships between local authorities and health and criminal justice agencies have deteriorated across the country, Professor Dame Carol Black told the Westminster Social Policy Forum’s Tackling drug addiction and substance misuse – latest thinking on […]

[…] on Probation Team in Sussex as a Senior Supporting People on Probation Navigator. You will have experience as a senior practitioner and you might have worked in prisons, probation, police or the courts before. You could be a psychology graduate, life coach, counsellor or psychotherapist. You might have worked in education, social services, health, […]

Needs-led, wraparound services are vital to tackling homelessness, says Vanessa Johnson.  Homelessness is a growing scourge in British society, which the government seems unable – or unwilling – to tackle. People find themselves homeless for a variety of reasons, including mental health challenges, loss of income, and/or substance use.  While many people’s ideas of homelessness […]

 Paul Hayes is determinedly upbeat in the aftermath of Brexit The country currently has no government, no prime minister, no opposition, no friends, and may soon disintegrate – and that’s ignoring the football! As we pass through the most profound political crisis since the war, what are the implications for the alcohol and drug treatment […]

The pandemic has worsened health and wellbeing for many and widened inequalities further. Link workers can improve outcomes for people whom GPs may struggle to support and help achieve better results, writes Julie Bass. Primary care is once again at the forefront of vaccination efforts, this time in the race to booster-jab the nation against […]

October’s recovery summit in Scotland brought together people from all walks of life to explore what they could do for recovery, as Kuladharini explains. Scotland’s second national recovery summit took place in Glasgow at the end of last month. The event was hosted by the Scottish Recovery Consortium, a small charity funded since 2010 by […]

Local authorities in England will receive £421m for drug and alcohol treatment services through to 2025, the government has announced. More than 150 councils are being allocated funding, which includes £154.3m for 2023-24 and ‘indicative funding’ of £266.7m for 2024-25. The money will help to enhance the quality of the treatment on offer, support more […]

[…] and alcohol use in the town has escalated, which also means more begging and crime. Police are caught up in almost petty stuff, then the courts and prisons are full with people for short sentences – no time to be rehabilitated and no staff even if they were there longer. Bournemouth cut the day […]

[…] 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 […]

[…] partnerships and a peer-to-peer approach. The key partners who can help local services provide more naloxone are: approved premises, pharmacies, police, hospitals, ambulances, hostels, homeless shelters, and prisons. People can also help to give out naloxone to their own peers. By working together as organisations and as individuals, we can make sure that naloxone […]

‘The savings offered by HAT give an obvious direction’ MANY YEARS AGO the UK treated heroin addiction as a medical issue, with diamorphine scripts dispensed by GPs. It’s taking us a long time to come back to that viewpoint but what might change the political mindset is the economic good sense of heroin assisted treatment […]