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
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Cover by : Camerados
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IN THIS ISSUE
RECLAIMING PUBLIC SPACE
6
INSIDE
4 NEWS Scottish alcohol deaths rise ; Smoking levels fall
12 MOVING ON Martin Blakebrough 16 CRISIS POINT Ending homelessness 17 HARM REDUCTION Nitazene action 18 CANNABIS Reform and regulation 22 DUAL DIAGNOSIS Better planning 25 YOUR SHOUT Letters & comment
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Diversion schemes Drug use and class
Recoverist Month
‘ STRONGER TOGETHER ’
‘ I ’ ve always wanted to do a skydive and the day itself was just perfect ... I ’ ve been inspired to do this by my daughter , and the support I ’ ve received from WithYou .’ See partner updates at www . drinkanddrugsnews . com
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A brave , brilliant , yet simple idea for cohesion
Maff Potts walked into our conference with a sofa over his shoulder . He went back to his van for another , then comfy chairs , standard lamps , beanbags , occasional tables , coloured lights , board games …
When he said he would create a living room we didn ’ t realise the scale of his vision – the social movement behind Camerados , the brave , brilliant , yet simple idea of enabling social cohesion by providing space to talk and connect . Each of us has the capacity to affect social isolation in a direct way by the simple act of relating to someone else – one thing in a conference setting and quite another when you take it onto the streets . Read about his remarkable journey so far ( p6 ).
Having somewhere to call home ; looking after our mental health and wellbeing – it ’ s about joining up the dots . Our coverage from Cranstoun ’ s social justice conference reflects things we spend our lives trying to fix – through collaboration we can have our ‘ lightbulb ’ moments . And we bring you the benefit of experience – Martin Blakebrough ’ s years at Kaleidoscope ( p12 ) and Mark Gilman ’ s searching questions for drug treatment in the here and now ( p24 ). Enjoy the issue !
Claire Brown , editor www . drinkanddrugsnews . com and @ DDNmagazine
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