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COUNCIL CALL
London’s drug and sexual health services are
failing to respond appropriately to gay men’s
drug use, according to NAT (National Aids
Trust). The trust has written to councils
calling for action to address a ‘recent and
rapid rise’ in the use of mephedrone, crystal
meth and GHB/GBL in London’s gay scene,
citing high levels of injecting drug use and
needle sharing. ‘We are calling on the
London councils as they take on their new
responsibility for commissioning both sexual
health and drug services to meet this
challenge and commission integrated sexual
health and drugs services tailored specifically
for gay men,’ said NAT chief executive
Deborah Jack. ‘This is essential if we are
going to reduce the high rates of HIV and STI
transmission.’
See news focus page 6
EC WARNING
The ongoing economic crisis will see more
young people selling and producing drugs –
especially home-grown cannabis – at the
same time as budget cuts hit treatment and
harm reduction services, according to a new
report from the European Commission (EC).
The study was a ‘wake-up call for Europe’,
said EU justice commissioner Viviane
Reding.
Study available at ec.europa.eu
RURAL RELIEF
UNODC and the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO) are to
promote grassroots development in poor
rural communities dependent on the
cultivation of drug crops. ‘We need to
ensure that they are provided the tools to
support their livelihoods, through capacity-
building activities and job opportunities,’
said UNIDO director general Kandeh
Yumkella. Afghanistan could serve as a pilot
country to develop a joint UNODC-UNIDO
project, he added.
DRUG LEGACY
Fewer young people are entering drug
treatment in Scotland, according to figures
from ISD Scotland, with the proportion of
people aged 30 and under at initial
assessment falling from 49 per cent to 38
per cent since 2006/07. While the
statistics were a ‘welcome sign of progress’
they were also a reminder that Scotland is
‘dealing with a long legacy of drug use’,
according to community safety minister
Roseanna Cunningham. ‘The majority of
individuals accessing treatment are older
drug users, many of whom will have been
using drugs for several years if not
decades.’
www.isdscotland.org
The number of hospital admissions for alcohol-
related liver disease in people under 30 has risen
dramatically in the last decade, according to
figures from Balance, the North East Alcohol Office.
There was a 117 per cent increase in admissions for
under 30s in England between 2002 and 2012, with 115
people under the age of 30 admitted to hospital last
year compared to just 23 in 2002/03. The North East,
however, saw an increase of 400 per cent over the
same period.
The total number of admissions across all ages rose
from 25,706 in 2002/03 to 49,456 in 2011/12 – an
increase of 92 per cent. Admissions for women have
increased by 91 per cent in England, rising to 114 per
cent in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Alcohol Concern chief executive Eric Appleby said
the figures were ‘terrifying’, showing an increase in
alcohol-related liver disease ‘across both sexes, in every
age group, in every region of the country. It’s particularly
sad to see the number of young people with this awful
disease more than doubling. We have to start taking this
seriously – if this was any other illness immediate action
would be taken to halt this, so we call on the Department
of Health to outline what action it intends to take.’
There have also been steep rises in hospital
admissions for alcohol-related cancers, as well as in
admissions for over-60s with alcohol-related mental
health problems.
The number of over-60s requiring hospital admission
for alcohol-related mental health issues rose by 150 per
cent in the decade to 2012, according to research by Dr
Tony Rao, consultant psychiatrist at South London and
Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Admissions in people
aged 60-74 for mental and behavioural disorders
related to alcohol rose from 3,247 to 8,120, and there
was also a 140 per cent increase in the number
admitted for Wernicke Korsakoff syndrome, a form of
alcohol-related brain damage.
‘More people are waking up to the devastating
impact alcohol can have on their liver but we rarely talk
about the mental health problems it causes,’ said Dr
Rao. ‘Increasing numbers of older people are living
with alcohol-related dementia, anxiety and depression
– and it’s their loved ones, carers and the rest of
society who are left picking up the pieces.’
Meanwhile, hospital admissions for alcohol-related
cancer have increased by 28 per cent in eight years,
according to a report from the Alcohol Health Alliance
UK (AHA). Admissions rose from 29,400 in 2002/03 to
37,600 in 2010/11, says AHA, and although alcohol can
cause cancer of the mouth, larynx, oesophagus,
pharynx, bowel, breast and liver, four out of ten people
are still unaware that it is a risk factor.
‘There’s strong scientific evidence that alcohol
increases the risk of a range of different cancers, but
this still comes as a surprise to many drinkers,’ said
Cancer Research UK’s executive director of policy and
information, Sarah Woolnough. ‘It’s not just heavier
drinkers who are at risk – the more you can cut down
on alcohol, the better.’
AHA is among the organisations urging the
government to stand firm on its commitment to
introduce a minimum price per unit of alcohol,
following indications that it may abandon the idea. ‘The
only opposing force that has emerged against MUP
[minimum unit pricing] in recent times has been a high
profile, well-funded campaign led by the global alcohol
producers,’ said AHA chair Professor Sir Ian Gilmore.
‘This is a group with a clear interest in prioritising
profits over public health.’
However, according to figures from the Office for
National Statistics, the number of people reporting that
they drank heavily – categorised as drinking on five or
more days a week – fell in the five years to 2011, but
the report cautions that surveys record lower levels of
consumption than could be expected from alcohol
sales data and that ‘obtaining reliable information
about drinking behaviour is difficult.’
• Liver disease figures at www.balancenortheast.co.uk
• Trends in alcohol related admissions for older people
with mental health problems: 2002 to 2012 at
www.alcoholconcern.org.uk
• Alcohol and cancer at
www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/alcohol-health-alliance-uk
• Drinking (general lifestyle survey overview – a report on
the 2011 general lifestyle survey) at www.ons.gov.uk
4 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| April 2013
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Huge increase in
alcohol-related liver
disease in under 30s
News |
Round-up
NEWS IN
BRIEF
‘We have to start
taking this seriously
– if this was any
other illness
immediate action
would be taken...’
Eric Appleby, Alcohol Concern