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drinkanddrugsnews
| December 2015
Review of the year |
2015
JANUARY
Among ever-increasing fears about
the impact of new psychoactive
substances, the Ministry of Justice
announces a raft of punitive
measures for anyone found using or
supplying them in prisons. ‘If
prisoners think they can get away
with using these substances they
need to think again,’ warns justice
secretary Chris Grayling.
There wasn’t very much to celebrate in 2015, a year that saw both
England and Scotland record their highest ever number of drug-related
fatalities, while a surprise outright Conservative election win heralded
yet more belt-tightening and austerity
Dark
Days
FEBRUARY
DDN
’s eighth national service user
conference,
The Challenge
, proves to be
the liveliest yet, with a day of powerful
presentations against a background of
increasing anxiety in the field.
DrugScope’s
State of the sector
report
indicates that the fears may be well
founded, with more than half of
survey respondents reporting a
reduction in frontline staff alongside
widespread concerns about job
insecurity and rapid commissioning
cycles. The highly controversial notion
of linking treatment to benefit
entitlement hits the headlines again as
the prime minister commissions Prof
Dame Carol Black to conduct a review
into sickness benefits, while Alcohol
Concern chief executive Jackie Ballard
backs the call for health warnings on
alcohol labels. ‘Every other bottle of
poison in the supermarket has a
warning label on it,’ she tells
DDN
.
MARCH
The government announces that it is
developing plans for a general ban on
the supply of all emerging drugs – the
first stirrings of what is to become
the controversial Psychoactive
Substances Bill – and DrugScope goes
into liquidation, blaming its
worsening financial situation. ‘It is
with a heavy heart that the board has
taken this extremely difficult
decision’, says chair Edwin Richards.
APRIL
Five more NPS become subject to
temporary banning orders, and Alcohol
Concern accuses the drinks industry of
using responsible drinking messages
as just another way to promote its
brands. Meanwhile, Dr Joss Bray writes
in
DDN
that it’s time to put com-
passion back into service provision.
MAY
There’s widespread surprise – not
least within the party itself – when
the Conservatives win a majority in
the general election. The new
government loses no time in
announcing its ‘landmark’ blanket
ban on all NPS, described by Release
as ‘full blown regression’.
JUNE
New substances are now being
identified at a rate of two a week,
the latest EMCDDA
European drug
report
warns, although demand for
heroin appears to be ‘stagnating’
across the continent. Delegates at
the RCGP’s national drug and alcohol
conference argue that GPs need to
stay central to substance treatment,
while the ‘Support. Don’t Punish’
campaign holds its third global day
of action. Naloxone campaigner
Philippe Bonnet, meanwhile, urges
DDN
readers to identify local
champions, create networks and
raise awareness of how cost-
effective the intervention can be.
