no offence
Although we feel strongly about the
subject of our letter (
DDN
, October, page
8), on reflection some of the language
used was perhaps inappropriate and we
apologise to those concerned. In
particular we in no way wanted to
offend Mr Marteau, who has worked
tirelessly in this area for decades and
helped to improve care for those with
addiction problems.
Dr Chris Ford, Dr Clare Gerada,
Dr Euan Lawson et al
Just to cLarify
Dear Chris and all, I am grateful for your
generous words. To clarify your letter’s
point about France, the French
treatment system as a whole now has
70 per cent of OST patients treated with
buprenorphine, 30 per cent with
methadone. The latest French drug-
related deaths and OST data (OFDT,
2014) indicate that methadone was
seven times more dangerous than
buprenorphine in 2012.
If we are to retain methadone as
first line, it is incumbent on us to
demonstrate that methadone is several
times more effective than
buprenorphine at keeping the
population alive. If it is not, and I have
deep concern that this is the case, then
we are in the realm of avoidable deaths.
Dave Marteau
Dangerous worDs
In a climate where those undergoing
treatment with methadone are
increasingly finding themselves on the
end of daily supervised consumption, I
found the letter ‘Marteau complex’
signed by Dr Chris Ford et al in last
months
DDN
, which seemed to
condone diversion, wholly unhelpful.
It may be OK stating this as a ‘what
if?’ academic flight of fancy, but when
you're a service user facing an
increasingly punitive drug treatment
system, this kind of statement merely
provides more ammunition for those
voices against OST and methadone in
particular.
Peter Simonson, London
MisLeaDing stats?
I am writing to express my
disappointment at the way in which
the drug poisoning deaths in England
and Wales were portrayed in your
article (
DDN
, October, page 4).
The article as written suggests that
drug poisoning deaths have risen in
Wales as well as England. This is clearly
not the case.
In 2014 there were 168 drug
poisoning deaths in Wales, a decrease
of 40 (19 per cent) compared with
2013, and the lowest since 2008.
Gareth Hewitt, head of substance
misuse policy and finance, Welsh
Government
DDN RESPONDS:
Our news story does
state in the third paragraph, ‘While
England saw a 17 per cent increase in
its drug misuse mortality rate... Wales
saw its proportion drop by 16 per cent
to 39.0 per million, the lowest figure
for almost a decade.’ The reference to
England and Wales registering the
highest number of deaths reflects the
ONS reporting region.
Letters and Comment
14 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| November 2015
DDN welcomes your letters
Please email the editor,
or post them to DDN, cJ wellings ltd, 57 High street, Ashford, Kent tN24 8sG. letters may be edited for space or clarity.
CLARA BELLA
@Dudleygirl79
30 Sep 2015
@DDNMagazine @BBCNews legal highs have been a problem
in prison for a long time it's not a new problem
KIERAN
@kierandhamilton
19 Oct 2015
#legalhighs are largely the result of current #drugpolicy –
pushing people towards more harmful substances
CHANGING LIVES
@ChangingLives__
19 Oct 2015
Worrying figures highlighted by @bbcnewcastle significant
rise in #999 call outs because of #legalhighs. English ban can't
come soon enough
SOBERCYCLIST
@susanroeder
19 Oct 2015
@MungosBroadway @DDNMagazine @cafeartuk I believe art &
an individual’s ability to express it, plays a huge role in overall
mental health.
DAVID NUTT
@ProfDavidNutt
22 Oct 2015
@DDNMagazine presume as real lemon drizzle cake is
psychoactive it will be banned too?
ACTIVERECOVERY
@RecoveryNLincs
27 Oct 2015
Brilliant to see a mention of the recovery games and our
overall win in the October 2015 edition of @DDNMagazine!
MR CLEAN
@AssembleTheArmy
27 Oct 2015
@DDNMagazine @damiengayle the 1 big drawback to guys in
recovery weightlifting is the urge to use steroids, itll take u
down again #drugfree
/DDNMagazine @DDNMagazine
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