Drink and Drugs News is published by CJ Wellings Ltd , Romney House , School Road , Ashford , Kent TN27 0LT t : 0845 299 3429
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
Subscriptions : e : subs @ cjwellings . com
website : www . drinkanddrugsnews . com
Website support by wiredupwales . com
Printed on environmentally friendly paper by the Manson Group Ltd
Cover by : agsandrew / iStock
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
ON THE COVER : Dialogue and support for marginalised communities
6
It
’ s time to stop the excuses for Scotland ’ s DRDs
Marginalised communities coping with lockdown
INSIDE
4 NEWS Drug deaths at record high ; consultation on gambling ads
10 VULNERABLE WOMEN A much-needed support project from Forward Trust
11 PARLIAMENT Call for action on DRDs
14 RECOVERY CONNECTORS An exciting new collaboration and ‘ LEROs ’ initiative
16 BILL NELLES Opioids ‘ safe supply ’ 16 LETTERS Reaction to ‘ medical cannabis ’ 18 ACTION ON DRDS Ideas from services
20 RECOVERY PLATFORM Phoenix ’ s railway partnership
8 12
It ’ s never been more urgent to engage with chaotic clients
COMMUNITIES AND PARTNERS
The community has lost one of its harm reduction pioneers , Gill Bradbury . Gill was a skilled nurse , energetic activist and passionate about putting harm reduction into practice . A deeply caring person , she put saving lives before any political dogma – a spirit that will live on and inspire us to do all we can to stop drug-related deaths .
DDN is a self-funded independent publication . Our bespoke partnership packages provide an opportunity to work closely with the magazine . Please get in touch to find out more .
‘ How can we change appalling statistics ?’
Writing and reading about drug-related deaths is depressing for all of us – the inevitability year after year , when policy doesn ’ t follow the evidence . The question is ( as raised on many pages of this issue ) how can we affect the situation ? How can we do things differently , and make others see things differently , to change these appalling statistics ? It ’ s no mystery that tackling underlying healthcare discrimination should be a primary focus .
Sharing the ‘ safe supply ’ scheme from his home in British Columbia , Bill Nelles ( p16 ) charts the journey of one straightforward harm reduction approach , through the challenges of risk assessment , scepticism and moral dilemma , to finally become official health policy . He hopes that the UK could follow suit with a similar approach – can we believe we will ? The fact that Peter Krykant was challenged by police for providing his life-saving drug consumption van ( p5 ) shows how far we have to go .
The groundswell of activism and appetite for collaboration could transform this dismal landscape . We have the evidence base and experience , and we have many minds thinking alike . We have the challenges of COVID to contend with , as well as budget worries . But let ’ s not allow inertia to be a reason why things didn ’ t change . Claire Brown , editor Keep in touch at www . drinkanddrugsnews . com and @ DDNmagazine
WWW . DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS . COM NOVEMBER 2020 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • 3