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Please email the editor, [email protected], or
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‘young people at my son’s school
know all about getting hold of this
drug [Xanax] but the school has done
nothing to help parents or pupils by
acknowledging the drug, let alone
what to do about it.’
SenSe on XanaX
Thank you for your comprehensive look
at the risks of Xanax (DDN, April, page
6). Young people at my son’s school
know all about getting hold of this
drug but the school has done nothing
to help parents or pupils by
acknowledging the drug, let alone
what to do about it. I am lucky that my
sister gets DDN at work, as I have been
able to show the school information
that gives the facts without
scaremongering. I hope that they will
actually use the info to start discussion
on prevention before it’s too late.
S Riley, by email their own life, and again help
themselves. This means using a non-
drug withdrawal, plus training in two
things: giving them the knowledge of
how to reach and maintain abstinence;
and at the same time resurrecting their
responsibility level to the point where
they can run their own lives.
Substituting one addictive
substance for another does not cure.
Talking about one’s addiction seldom
cures, nor does so-called ‘treatment’.
But drug-free withdrawal plus training
does work in enough cases to make it
thoroughly worthwhile.
E. Kenneth Eckersley, CEO, Addiction
Recovery Training Services (ARTS)
Time To Train ChoiCe iS lifeline
Clive Hallam makes some good points
in his article on talking therapies (DDN,
April, page 18) but, because of the
quantity of misinformation in the rehab
sector and the paucity of most of the
so-called rehab systems on which his
observations rely, he understandably
misses the main requirements for
recovering addicts from their habit. OST
is not a recovery from addition prog -
ramme – it is merely a change of
supplier and as Clive has rightly pointed
out, too many talking therapies rely on
the practitioner rather than on the
process they use.
Society cannot afford to provide a
police or medical minder for anybody
for life, so any viable solution must
sufficiently empower the addict to
enable him or her to take control of Thanks for your article ‘More Choice,
More Options’ (DDN, April, page 14). It
is essential that the role OST can
provide in an individual’s recovery is
acknowledged, and not ignored as
part of a desire for a ‘one size fits all’
abstinence based model.
I am in long-term recovery and am
now abstinent from all drugs, but
without the pause from the madness
of addiction and the period of stability
that my prescription created, I do not
think I would be where I am today. It is
also interesting to hear of new
innovations within this sector, which
will hopefully help to reduce stigma
towards people on scripts and provide
more opportunities for more people to
start their recovery journey.
Max, by email
10 | drinkanddrugsnews | May 2017
BOLD MOVES
The UK’s drug policy approach
is no longer fit for purpose.
It’s time to try something
new, says Norman Lamb
THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS have long been calling for wholesale reform of our
outdated and catastrophic drugs policies. There is no doubt that the War on Drugs
has failed to tackle the harm caused by illegal drug use, or support problematic
users into treatment and rehabilitation. Instead, we put huge sums of money into
the pockets of criminals. It is a completely stupid approach.
While Labour and the Conservatives
want to persist with the War on Drugs,
however disastrous the consequences,
the Liberal Democrats have been
prepared to stand up in Parliament and
call for the bold changes that are clearly
required. We have recently been pushing
for a debate in the Commons to force
the government’s hand, and had been
close to securing one before Theresa
May announced a general election.
Hopefully we will be in an even stronger
position to make the case after 8 June.
The Liberal Democrats are the only
party with a progressive, liberal, and
evidence-based policy on drugs. We
strongly believe that the possession of
all drugs for personal use should be
decriminalised on public health
grounds, but have also gone one step
further by calling for a legalised and regulated cannabis market in the UK. It
would allow the sale of cannabis from specialist, licensed stores, overseen by a
new regulator. The model was proposed by an independent expert panel, which I
established, before being formally adopted as Lib Dem policy in March 2016.
We have to be pragmatic. We know that people will continue to purchase and
use drugs, so ensuring their safety and wellbeing must be our absolute priority.
It’s disheartening to see other countries adopt more enlightened approaches
while Britain is stuck in the dark ages.
Drug and alcohol addiction stands alongside obesity and smoking as one of
the biggest public health disasters the country faces. There is a moral imperative
to ensure that treatment services are properly funded, which unfortunately hasn’t
been the case in recent years, but we also need to end our hard-line approach to
drug addiction where people are too often punished instead of being diverted to
treatment and support. The Liberal Democrats have been clear that we would
invest more resources in public health, ensuring that every local area is able to
provide strong services including treatment for drug and alcohol misuse.
Our message of hope is this: There is a political party committed to fighting to
reverse the cuts we have seen to substance misuse services, to reforming our damag -
ing drugs laws so that drug use is treated as a health issue rather than a criminal
offence, and to delivering a properly-funded, world-class health and care service
where nobody goes without the right support. Only a vote for the Liberal Democrats
on 8 June will guarantee a strong voice on these issues over the next five years.
‘the liberal
Democrats are the
only party with a
progressive,
liberal, and
evidence-based
policy on drugs.’
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