The news, and the skews, in the national media
MEDIA SAVVY
THE ALLEGED PURPOSE
of the
[Psychoactive Substances] Bill is to
‘protect hard-working citizens from
the risks posed by untested, unknown
and potentially harmful drugs’. How
noble of the government. Does this
mean, therefore, that there is an
exemption in the legislation so that
those who aren't in work, or those
who aren't that ‘hard-working’, will be
able to be involved in the trade
without fear of prosecution?
Niamh Eastwood,
Huffington Post
,
28 May
THE COUNTER-NARCOTICS SIDESHOW
in Afghanistan was a desperate and
patronising attempt to tart up an ugly
and unpopular war, but it serves as a
depressingly accurate microcosm for
our current, almost wilfully irrational
policy on recreational drugs: the
underlying reasoning is incoherent;
methods of enforcement are
questionable; the unintended
consequences are malign and
disproportionate; and, the whole
thing costs an absolute fortune.
Patrick Hennessy,
Independent
, 6 May
EACH PRISONER COSTS THE STATE
about £45,000 a year – yet almost
two-thirds of those sentenced to less
than 12 months reoffend again, most
within a year of release since their
social issues are often left
unaddressed. Core problems such as
substance abuse, family breakdown
and unemployment can often worsen
in jail. [New justice secretary Michael]
Gove should be as angered by this
failing prison system as he was by
failing schools; even his new
department knows non-custodial
sentences are more effective than a
short spell inside from its own
studies... is it possible Gove, a restless
reformer unjustly loathed on the left,
might become an unlikely liberal hero
by pointing out the glaring
contradictions for conservatives to be
supporting perhaps the most
grotesque state failure of them all?
Ian Birrell,
Guardian
, 20 May
NO ONE WANTS TO ASK
if the mass
incarceration policy of the last 20
years really works and why it is so
costly. No one is willing to make
money available to help educate or
rehabilitate prisoners, to stop so many
being sent in or to help those released
recover work and dignity.
Denis MacShane,
Guardian
, 21 May
HOW INTERESTING
that the new
head of the Downing Street Policy
Unit, Camilla Cavendish, is an openly
declared supporter of the
legalisation of drugs. Such a view,
publicly expressed on the record,
would once have disqualified anyone
from this job. Ms Cavendish was an
Oxford contemporary of David
Cameron, and even went to the same
college. He once signed a Commons
report calling for weaker drug
policies. Does she say openly what
he thinks privately?
Peter Hitchens,
Mail on Sunday
,
31 May
Tell iT To TV – an inViTaTion
VICE
is making a new TV series about emerging addiction trends. The aim is to speak
to current drug users about their lives. We look at modern addiction from the mouths
of those affected, without the usual distortion, moral judgment and hype.
If you know someone who may be interested, please email
Voices
8 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| June 2015
POST-ITS FROM PRACTICE
SAJID LOOKED QUITE BEMUSED when I started
talking to him about smoking cessation. ‘I had
been using five bags of heroin a day, doc, so I
think that’s the least of my worries,’ he said.
I think it is fair to say that over the years that
has been the fairly typical response to my
questions on smoking, and that probably includes
the attitude of many a key worker as well. I’ve said
many times that GPs do not ask patients about
alcohol often enough, as for some it reflects on
their own behaviour. The same, it could be said,
applies to keyworkers and smoking questions.
As well as improving physical health, there is
evidence that those who do also stop smoking are
moreover less likely to relapse to illicit drug use. It
is also one of the most effective interventions we
have when working with cannabis users.
So, I persisted with Sajid: he was 38, had
smoked cigarettes since the age of 13 and heroin
since he was 25 – with a fair bit of crack along
the way as well. We have recently invested in
mini spirometers at our practice and using one
of these I was able to show him that he had a
lung age of 60, meaning his lung function was
equivalent to that of a 60-year-old man.
It was suggestive of chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD). I was able to explain
that COPD is increasingly the cause of death for
those who use illicit drugs as they get into
middle age, and that cigarette smoking was a key component of this.
I have come across people who have been through drug treatment and
have been discharged, but who haven’t had their smoking addressed and
therefore sadly remain at risk of significant respiratory disease.
In working with clients or patients we cannot downplay the significance of
the impact of smoking on health, wellbeing and recovery, and we must
encourage them to stop even if we are smokers ourselves.
In the next edition of our popular
Network
newsletter (look out for it this
month) we are pleased to include an article on current pilots to address
smoking in people who use drugs and alcohol, as well as an article on brief
interventions for problematic cannabis use.
Steve Brinksman is a GP in Birmingham and clinical lead of SMMGP,
. He is also the RCGP regional lead in substance misuse for
the West Midlands.
A BREATHOF FRESH AIR
Why don’t we take smoking cessation
seriously, asks
Dr Steve Brinksman
‘COPD is
increasingly
the cause of
death for
those who
use illicit
drugs as
they get into
middle age.’
