A DARK PICTURE
The latest drug death statistics provoked more calls for action from the drugs , alcohol and justice parliamentary group
Presenting the latest
statistics on drugrelated deaths in England and Wales , Asim Butt from the Office for National Statistics ( ONS ) gave data to confirm the inevitableseeming trend : that deprived areas have significantly higher mortality rates , with a significant northsouth divide ( see news , page 3 ). The North East once again topped the table of deaths in 2019 – which of course did not include any more recent data relating to coronavirus .
The age at which people were dying was increasing , following ‘ Generation X ’ into middle age . A substantial increase in cocaine poisonings included a steep rise in female mortality .
‘ Year after year we have ONS presentations , with the heartbreak , the families , the people … presenting evidence doesn ’ t seem to make much difference ,’ said Alex Boyt . ‘ This government is not strong on compassion , with cuts and health inequalities . We ’ re preaching to the converted here – we need to be reaching some different minds .’
Sunny Dhadley suggested that we needed to be much cleverer in how we use resources to support society ’ s most vulnerable , starting with joint commissioning and considering alternative models of funding . ‘ It ’ s time for us to do
something radically different , and to join services together ,’ he said .
‘ We need to remind ourselves that behind the numbers are people , and often a grieving family ,’ said Lucy Holmes from Alcohol Change UK . Alcohol-specific deaths ( whose statistics for 2019 would not be released until 2021 ) were many times higher , with many hidden deaths , and shouldn ’ t be the poor relation . ‘ All of these deaths are preventable ,’ she added . Homelessness outreach teams should be trained and skilled , and ACUK ’ s Blue Light manual had the appropriate training on changeresistant drinkers .
With deaths increasing for more than a decade , Iain MacPhee and Barry Sheridan had written a paper to offer explanations ( see Enough Excuses , page 6 ). Lack of information in Scotland had made it difficult to use data to make decisions , said MacPhee , but it needed to be highlighted that naloxone had no effect on some of the major causes of DRDs , including benzodiazepines , and that clean needles were often not distributed to the target population .
‘ Should we really be considering 35 as an aging cohort ?’ he asked , adding ‘ We believe that cuts have contributed significantly to the stark increase in DRDs .’
‘ I go to meeting after meeting and nothing happens – in the
‘ We ’ re preaching to the converted here – we need to be reaching some different minds .’
ALEX BOYT
meantime we bury people ,’ said his co-author Barry Sheridan . ‘ It ’ s a depressing picture , but when working in these communities it ’ s heart-rending .’
Peter Krykant had become known as the pioneering activist behind Glasgow ’ s mobile overdose prevention facility , set up because a legal facility planned by the health board and council was thwarted .
He explained how , over the past eight weeks , he had provided a safe , clean , sterile environment for people to use drugs in a converted minibus . It was equipped with naloxone and defibrillators and the team were trained to provide basic first aid and harm reduction advice .
It offered ‘ safety from the rat-infested alleyways they currently inject in ’, he said . As well as instilling safer practice , it had already saved at least one life through administering naloxone . The harm reduction advice was invaluable : there was a high incidence of street benzos ( a major contributor to deaths in Scotland ) and many people were found to be injecting coke , often when on a high dose of methadone .
A second site was in train – in a pop-up gazebo – using experiences from Copenhagen and Canada , and there were hopes to launch a third site . At the time of talking at the APPG ( 21 October ) the team had experienced no significant intervention from the police ‘ who had been fantastic ’, but since the meeting Krykant had been cautioned by police under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 ( news , page 5 ) – a situation opposed by many individuals and organisations , including the Scottish Drugs Forum , who called it ‘ deeply regrettable and unnecessary ’.
APPG participants were unanimous in their support for the initiative – including representatives of treatment services , who emphasised that they were constantly reviewing and developing the ways they worked . DDN
Responses from treatment providers to the latest DRD statistics , page 18 .
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