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In addition to illicit drugs such as
cannabis, cocaine and heroin etc,
‘hypnotic and addictive reinforced
demand substances’ (which include the
benzodiazepines, the ‘Z’ drugs, chloral
drugs and derivatives, plus
clomethiazole, and some of the
anxiolytics and barbiturates) can have
the same physical and psychological
effects. And because they are
dangerous, all of these are
‘prescription-only’ drugs, and thus a
matter of physician specification rather
than patient selection.
Bearing in mind that for all the
officially reported UK addicts on illicit
substances, there are many more
addicted to prescription drugs, paid for
by the taxpayer. All of which makes
prescription drug production and
distribution a nice little earner.
Elisabeth Reichert, school head,
East Sussex
HiDDen menace
I recently read in the national press
that there has been a huge increase in
the prescribing of gabapentin and
pregabalin medication, both associated
with addiction or its treatment.
It seems to me that this could be a
hidden menace awaiting the attention
of medical and addiction professionals.
I addressed this within my own service
but was met with some reluctance to
pursue it, as it was viewed as non-
addictive and the drugs were being
prescribed by doctors who must be
aware of the implications. I did some
ringing around and it seems that these
medications are regularly prescribed
within the prison service and may be
seen as less problematic when
compared to other medical requests
within HMP.
I fear that failure to address this
relatively new addiction will mask
individuals’ recovery from more
obvious drug and alcohol problems.
Services should work together to elicit
change from those promoting this
medication.
Ken Crawford, by email
recoVery crawl
Annemarie Ward is absolutely right to
highlight the reducing support of
local authorities for addiction
rehabilitation and recovery (
DDN
,
December, page 18). But in these
‘cash-strapped-days’, can we really
blame them?
If psychiatric professor John
Strang’s four-year time-wasting
‘piloting’ of payment by results (PbR)
had produced a viable system for
providing 12 months free of addictive
substance usage and thus an effective
basis for delivering the coalition’s
2010 drug strategy
, local authorities
would be rushing to implement that
brilliant strategy. But Strang has
merely proved that OST, methadone
and buprenorphine can still only
deliver a less than 3 per cent
abstinence result, and that residential
12 steps still delivers only a 20 to 30
per cent abstinence result over a four-
year period.
So, in respect of the requirements
of the coalition’s drug strategy, local
authorities are being asked to invest in
recovery programmes that have a far
greater likelihood of failure than
success. Would you?
In addition to spreading the false
idea that addiction is incurable, the
infamous PbR ‘pilots’ have been used
to hide the fact that there exist
alternative approaches to addiction
recovery other than continuing OST
addiction to prescription medication.
In fact those alternatives (based on
training in self-help resurrection of
personal responsibility and
resumption of control of one’s life)
have not only been excluded from the
‘pilots’, but have also been regularly
attacked by lobbying and black
propaganda because certain vested
interests know that training in self-
help addiction recovery is the sure way
to lasting abstinence for a clear
majority of substance addicts.
Kenneth Eckersley, CEO Addiction
Recovery Training Services (ARTS)
February 2015 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 15
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PROVIDENCE PROJECT
@The_Provy
13 Jan 2015
@DDNMagazine after speaking with a worker at Cardiff, it
seems as though residential rehab is no longer available to
Cardiff residents.
CARDIFFSOUL
@CardiffSoul
21 Jan 2015
@DDNMagazine Awful news. Same here. In Cardiff they are to
scrap the CADT (Cardiff Alcohol& Drug Team) altogether with
no other alternative.
PERRY CLAYMAN
@PerryClaymanPCP
8 Jan 2015
@DDNMagazine good to see, we're seeing ever increasing
numbers of people coming to us as a result of addiction to so
called "legal highs".
BOLTON CCG
@BoltonCCG
28 Jan 2015
Having a #DryJanuary? Well done for proving to yourself you
can say no to a tipple or two! Only a few days to go...
http://dryjanuary.org.uk
HEPATITISSA
@hep_sa
20 Jan 2015
Got something to say to your MP about #HepC? Don't wait till
it's too late. Do it here:
http://hepatitissa.asn.au/special/parliamentary-inq.html
KIRSTEN HORSBURGH
@kirstenlh23
16 Jan 2015
Member of the Scottish Parliament? Please support this
motion to highlight the importance of #naloxone in Scotland:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/288
77.aspx?SearchType=Advance&ReferenceNumbers=S4M-
12082&ResultsPerPage=10
DDN welcomes your letters
Please email the editor, claire@cjwellings.com, or post them to
DDN, cJ wellings ltd, 57 High street, Ashford, Kent tN24 8sG.
letters may be edited for space or clarity.
‘It is vital to
recognise the
absurdly obvious
– that if an
individual never
uses a particular
addictive
substance, he or
she will never
become addicted
to that substance.’
/DDNMagazine @DDNMagazine
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