UPFRONT
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IN THIS ISSUE
6
COVER STORY: ENGINEERING THE FUTURE
10 13 18
INSIDE
4 NEWS Scottish drug deaths up; NSP provision neglected in England 8 FAMILIES The funding gap 11 DUAL DIAGNOSIS EU learnings 12 DRUG POLICY Hidden victims 19 LETTERS Your say 20 STIGMA Workforce survey 21 I AM A... Rough sleepers lead 22 BEHAVIOUR Identity change
24 RECOVERY Abbeycare’ s celebration
Doubling down on Dual Diagnosis
The 2026 National Harm Reduction Summit
A new model for co-occurring needs
‘ The energy is wonderful and meeting so many different organisations is pretty magical.’
Cara Cox, The Detox Factor, on bringing Wake up Sammy to the DDN Conference. Coverage, photos and films at drinkanddrugsnews. com
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Is support reachable on a difficult day?
If someone misses an appointment or stops responding to messages, how easy do we make it for them to reconnect? Do we find out what’ s been happening? If recovery isn’ t a straight road, then support needs to be reachable on a difficult day, when confidence is low and asking for help feels hardest( p6).
We talk a lot about integration, yet if you’ re experiencing problems with drugs and mental health, you can be shuttled between services that feel neither equipped nor willing to take responsibility. Add homelessness, trauma and violence to the mix and neat divisions between services make even less sense. Other countries offer ideas( p10), while Nottingham shares a model for building trust and sharing knowledge( p18).
Meanwhile, the first NHRS in Bristol reminded us of the UK’ s proud harm reduction legacy( p12). But despite amazing progress on hepatitis C, there’ s urgent need to reverse declining needle and syringe provision, dwindling pharmacy coverage and overstretched peer outreach. Let’ s not lose our ambition. Claire Brown, editor www. drinkanddrugsnews. com and @ DDNmagazine
WWW. DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS. COM OCTOBER 2026 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • 3