UPFRONT
Drink and Drugs News is published by CJ Wellings Ltd, Romney House, School Road, Ashford, Kent TN27 0LT
Editor: Claire Brown e: claire @ cjwellings. com Advertising manager: Ian Ralph e: ian @ cjwellings. com Reporter: David Gilliver e: david @ cjwellings. com Designer: Jez Tucker e: jez @ cjwellings. com website: www. drinkanddrugsnews. com Website support by wiredupwales. com Subscriptions: e: subs @ cjwellings. com Printed on environmentally friendly paper by the Manson Group Ltd Cover: JellyPics CJ Wellings Ltd does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of statements made by contributors or advertisers. The contents of this magazine are the copyright of CJ Wellings Ltd, but do not necessarily represent its views, or those of its partner organisations.
IN THIS ISSUE
COVER STORY: SOLITARY USE
6
INSIDE
4 NEWS Scottish drug deaths up; increased drugs in wastewater
8 DRUG DEATHS Scotland’ s plan 11 LETTERS Your welcome feedback 12 TRAUMA From words to action 18 GET AWARE Youth and ketamine 20 TREATMENT ACCESS Release advises 22 LIFE IN FILM A creative journey 24 CAREERS I am... an access worker
10 14 16
Families and probation services Recovery art
Ketamine training
JOIN US AT DDN 2026!
‘ The energy in the room was electric. It’ s rare to find a space where doctors, policymakers, and people in active recovery are all speaking the same language with the same goal.’
Keep up with all the latest on the DDN Conference at www. drinkanddrugsnews. com
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How do we address this invisibility?
Our cover story this month challenges a familiar narrative – that knowledge and willpower are enough to keep people alive. They’ re not. Too many drug deaths are happening because people are alone.
Looking at why people might take drugs in isolation, I was struck by how relatable these reasons are – wanting control over the situation, avoiding judgment, not wanting to be seen, as well as the more obvious one of having nowhere else to go. But the problem with drugs is that when no one’ s around to notice something going wrong, survival becomes a matter of chance.
So how do we address this invisibility?‘ Connection’ isn’ t a quick policy fix – it requires culture change that should touch each one of us. It’ s about running services and healthcare in the right way, yes, but it’ s also about how we treat each other in everyday moments, and about building love, support and empathy into the fabric of our communities.
It’ s with this in mind that we’ ve decided to theme our DDN Conference this year‘ Me, Myself … Us’. True support is not about telling people to try harder – it’ s about saying‘ let’ s do this’. We hope you’ ll join us on 9 July. Claire Brown, editor www. drinkanddrugsnews. com and @ DDNmagazine
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