HOME TRUTHS
A ‘perfect storm’ of factors in the UK rental
market, including the introduction of ‘right to
buy’ for housing association tenants, is posing a
serious threat to people’s recovery, says a report
from Phoenix Futures. Nearly 10,000 people
entered drug treatment in ‘acute housing need’
last year, states
Building recovery friendly
communities.
‘Whilst treatment outcomes are
better than ever, the challenges faced by our
service users in finding appropriate housing are
considerable,’ said CEO Karen Biggs. ‘Having a
safe and stable place to be enables our service
users to take stock, plan for the future, access
the job market and engage positively in their
community.’
Report at
-
futures.org.uk. DDN talks to Karen Biggs, page 11.
COKED UP
Use of cocaine among those accessing drug
treatment in Northern Ireland has risen from
21 per cent of clients to 34 per cent in the last
decade, while use of heroin has fallen and use
of ecstasy halved (from 27 to 13 per cent) over
the same period. A total of 2,262 people
presented for drug treatment in 2014-15, 12
per cent down on the previous year.
Figures at
RECOVERY CASH
PHE has opened applications for the third year
of its capital funding allocations for recovery-
focused projects. Service providers and local
authorities in England can apply for a share of
the £10m cash until 4 December.
Full details
available at local PHE centres:
-
and-local-centres
News
SPEEDY BILL
The speed at which the government has
brought forward its controversial psychoactive
substances legislation (
DDN
, June, page 4),
along with lack of consultation on the details,
has created weaknesses in the proposed laws,
says a report by the Home Affairs Committee.
The document urges the government to
engage more effectively with key stakeholders
‘even at this late stage’, especially when
drawing up guidance to accompany the
legislation.
Psychoactive substances at
STAYING PUT
The numbers of drug-related general acute
and psychiatric hospital stays are continuing
to increase among Scottish over-35s, while
falling or remaining unchanged in younger
groups, according to statistics from ISD
Scotland. There were more than 7,000 general
acute stays with a diagnosis of drug misuse in
2014-15, says
Drug-related hospital statistics
Scotland
. The country also recently recorded its
highest ever number of drug-related deaths
(
DDN
, September, page 4).
Figures at
LEGAL BUSINESS
The Liberal Democrats have set up an
independent panel to look at how a legalised
cannabis market could work in the UK.
Chaired by Transform’s Steve Rolles, the panel
will study evidence from Colorado,
Washington State and Uruguay, and make
recommendations for the party to consider
next spring. ‘With successful legal cannabis
markets emerging in different parts of the
world, the onus is now on the supporters of
prohibition to explain why we shouldn’t
do the same things here in the UK,’
said the party’s health spokesperson
Norman Lamb.
read the full stories, and more, online
TREATMENT THREATENED BY CONSTANT
RE-PROCUREMENT, WARNS ACMD
THE QUALITY OF TREATMENT
for heroin users is being threatened by
diminishing funds and ‘disruptive re-procurement processes’, according to a
new report from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).
Treatment quality now varies significantly across England, says the
document, and is being further compromised by ‘frequent re-procurement
and shrinking resources’. The report stresses that investment in drug
treatment needs to be protected, as it is cost-effective and beneficial to
society, and it calls for the implementation of a national quality
improvement programme. It also wants to see more done to create a
‘culture of stability’ and reduce ‘churn’ in local systems.
The document, which also considers issues such as how to tackle low
expectations of recovery, how to prioritise resources to achieve better
social reintegration, and how to address misuse and diversion of OST
medication, is the final of two ACMD reports into opioid substitution
therapy commissioned by the Inter-Ministerial Group on Drugs. The first,
published late last year, firmly rejected the idea of time limits on
substitution treatment (
DDN
, December 2014, page 4).
‘Everyone with heroin dependency should have access to high-quality
drug treatment,’ the document states, expressing concerns about lack of
progress on helping people ‘achieve employability’. More effort is required
to achieve this, it says, including vocational training, supported work
placements and ‘targeted employment schemes’, including tackling stigma
among employers.
However, a ‘significant number’ of heroin users new to treatment
appear to be able to complete that treatment and not return, it stresses,
particularly if they ‘stop using heroin within six months of starting OST’. Those who are stable and remain in OST for
more than five years or more, meanwhile, should ‘be positively regarded as in “medication-assisted recovery”,’ which
should ‘not hinder access to healthcare interventions, peer-led recovery interventions and social integration’. This
group should not be discriminated against simply because they are in OST, the report warns.
‘Government has done well to achieve widespread recovery-orientated drug treatment for heroin users,’ said co-
chair of the ACMD’s recovery committee Annette Dale-Perera. ‘Treatment protects against drug-related death, ill
health, chaos caused by addiction, and crime and can help people turn their lives around. We need to act to improve,
and not lose, this valuable asset to society.’
How can opioid substitution therapy (and drug treatment and recovery systems) be optimised to maximise recovery
outcomes for service users? at
‘We need to act to
improve, and not
lose, this valuable
asset to society.’
ANNETTE DALE-PERERA
ALCOHOL ABUSE
NEARLY 80 PER CENT OF POLICE
and
50 per cent of ambulance staff say
they have been injured as a result of
drunken violence, according to a
report from the Institute of Alcohol
Studies (IAS). The document calls for a
range of measures including
minimum pricing, a lower drink-drive
limit and ‘more assertive’ use of
licensing powers by local authorities.
Alcohol takes up ‘a disproportionate
share of emergency service time,
costing taxpayers billions of pounds
each year’, said IAS director Katherine
Brown. The health select committee
recently launched a major inquiry into
alcohol’s impact on the emergency
services (
DDN
, October, page 4).
Document at
4 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| November 2015
Alcohol
takes up ‘a
disproportionate
share of
emergency
service time’...
KAtherine Brown
