obesity if we are adequately resourced to do
so,’ said chair of the LGA's community
wellbeing board, Izzi Seccombe.
MIXED PICTURE
LAST YEAR
, 38 per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds
reported that they had tried alcohol at least
once, according to figures from the Health and
Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), the
lowest proportion since the survey began.
While this ‘downward drift’ was encouraging,
however, those who were drinking were
drinking more, stressed Alcohol Concern.
‘Looking at the broader picture it’s a case of
more alcohol down fewer throats,’ said head
of policy Tom Smith.
CHOICE PUBLICATION
A BOOKLET
on new psychoactive substances
and other drugs has been published by
Turning Point, aimed at drug users, their
families and professionals. The aim is to
educate people to make their own choices,
says the charity. ‘Substances that are taken in
a predominantly recreational context, like
novel psychoactive substances, cocaine,
steroids and alcohol, place a heavy burden on
the health system,’ said director of operations
for substance misuse, Jay Stewart. ‘This new
guide aims to provide useful information on
the risks associated with substances such as
these, to dispel some of the myths associated
with certain drugs, and to outline the range of
support available.’
A useful guide to psychoactive substances,
steroids, cannabis and alcohol at
News
PSYCHOACTIVE
CONFUSION
THE PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES BILL
needs to
be re-worded in order to avoid ‘serious
unintended consequences’, says the ACMD.
While the ACMD broadly supports a blanket
ban on NPS it would be ‘almost impossible’ to
list all the desirable exemptions as the
controversial bill currently stands, said chair
Professor Les Iversen.
BLACK BOOKS
THE GOVERNMENT HAS REIGNITED THE
DEBATE
over whether benefit entitlement
should be linked to accepting treatment, with
the publication of its review by Dame Carol
Black. The review will look at the ‘legal, ethical
and other implications’ of linking benefit
entitlements to the take up of treatment, with
a final report to be published later this year.
An independent review into the impact on
employment outcomes of drug or alcohol
addiction, and obesity at
E-SAFETY
USING E-CIGARETTES
is around 95 per cent less
harmful than smoking tobacco, according to a
PHE review. The devices can be a useful tool for
helping people quit smoking, says the
document, with no evidence ‘so far’ that they
act as a gateway to smoking for children or
non-smokers. Some commentators, however,
have questioned the document’s conclusions.
E-cigarettes: an evidence update at
SUDDEN IMPACT
GOVERNMENT PLANS
to reduce the public
health grant to local authorities by £200m
over the course of the financial year will
‘clearly impact’ on councils’ ability to improve
the health of their communities, the Local
Government Association (LGA) has stated.
‘Giving councils the ability to make a real
impact to the health of local people was a
positive step, but local government can only
continue its important work such as reducing
smoking or excessive drinking and tackling
Read the full stories, and more, online
SCOTS RECORD HIGHEST NUMBER
OF DRUG-RELATED DEATHS EVER
SCOTLAND RECORDED 613 DRUG-RELATED DEATHS LAST YEAR
, the highest
figure ever, according to new statistics from National Records of Scotland. The
figure was 16 per cent higher than the previous year, with three quarters of the
deaths among males.
The increase comes after a 9 per cent fall in 2013 (
DDN
, September 2014,
page 4), following 2011’s record-high figure of 584 and just three fewer the
following year. The average age of those dying from drug-related causes has
also continued to rise, and now stands at 40 – 12 years older than when
recording began in 1996. Sixty-seven per cent of last year’s deaths were
among the over-35s, with just 8 per cent occurring among those under 25.
One or more opioids (including both heroin and methadone) were
implicated in almost 90 per cent.
The figures showed that, while there had been some progress, Scotland still
faced a ‘huge challenge in tackling the damaging effects of long-term drug use
among an aging cohort’, said community safety minister Paul Wheelhouse. ‘This
group of individuals often have long-term, chronic health problems as a result of
sustained and, in many cases, increasingly chaotic drug-use issues. We need to
better understand the needs of particular sub-groups and to better understand
what role the purity, or strength, of illicit drugs is playing in increasing fatalities.’
The statistics were confirmation that the outcomes for drug users ‘not
engaged in treatment or care’ were becoming ‘increasingly concerning’
added chair of the National Forum on Drug-Related Deaths, Roy Robertson.
‘Older drug users are most susceptible because their often frail health
cannot sustain a life of poly-substance misuse, including alcohol use, and
injecting-related problems,’ he said. ‘Although the final mechanism of death
may be recorded as an overdose, years of high-risk drug use, blood-borne
virus infections, smoking and alcohol consumption combine to increase their
vulnerability. Stigma, a life course of traumatic experiences, social exclusion
and feeling the brunt of austerity leaves many pursuing a risky, hopeless
existence, often extinguished ultimately by suffering a drug-related death.’
Drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2014 at
See news focus, page 8
Paul Wheelhouse:
‘This group of
individuals often
have long-term,
chronic health
problems as a
result of sustained
and, in many
cases, increasingly
chaotic drug-use
issues.’
GIVING VOICE
A NEW PROJECT
that aims to
ensure that the voices of
service users are properly heard
is to be headed by ex-NTA chief
Paul Hayes. Collective Voice is
a joint venture between major
service providers including
Addaction, Blenheim, CRI,
Phoenix Futures and Turning
Point. ‘Leadership of this
project will require
influencing skills, political
astuteness and experience of
building successful
partnerships and links with key
stakeholders at the highest
level, and the board were clear
that Paul Hayes was the
outstanding applicant to
provide this,’ said a project
spokesperson.
4 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| September 2015
‘Leadership of this
project will require
influencing skills,
political astuteness
and experience of
building successful
partnerships...’
