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Contents
editor’s letter
ON THE COVER
‘It’s a mismatch between
prison and complex needs’
Why Britain’s prisoners are turning to heroin p6
4 NEWS
Alcohol treatment reaches crisis point; RCP backs decriminalisation.
6 THE FEAR INSIDE
The factors driving heroin use in our prisons.
8 STRAIGHT TO THE POINT
Full round-up of this year’s National Needle Exchange Forum event.
11 INNOVATING FOR EXCELLENCE
The Expert Faculty on Commissioning launches its Manchester conference.
11 DEJA VU
Danny Hames on the essential elements for successful crack cocaine services.
12 ACCESS FOR AUTISM
Andrew Misell on improving access to alcohol treatment for clients with autism.
14 LETTERS
A round-up of your responses to Alex Boyt’s 12-step article.
15 LEGAL LINE
How strict will CQC’s new short-notice inspections be? Nicole Ridgwell advises.
15 MEDIA SAVVY
The news and the skews in the national media.
16 RESOUNDING VICTORY
Stuart Pascoe on coming back from the brink to achieve sporting success.
17 RECOVERING THROUGH NATURE
Phoenix Futures share the secrets of their holistic Purple Camel project.
W
e need a new dialogue and thinking, says police and
crime commissioner David Jamieson, talking about his
recommendations to divert people away from the courts
and into treatment (page 8). ‘Criminalisation of drugs will be looked
back on with as much disgust as criminalisation of homosexuality,’
adds former detective sergeant Neil Woods, speaking at the same
NNEF event.
We have long heard the call to stop wasting money on the drug
war from healthcare workers – those at the sharp end of human
suffering and misery. But when the pieces of the jigsaw join with
those from the criminal justice, policy and treatment sectors, there is
surely enough to complete the picture that health must come first –
and that it is politicians’ duty to take account of the evidence.
The prison population has expanded rapidly and institutions are
bursting at the seams. Lana Durjava’s study of people who used
heroin in prison (page 6) shines a light on the mismatch between
incarceration and complex needs. The motivation is to self-medicate,
to shut down responses and deaden the pain – summarised as ‘a life
of lonely compulsion in a mundane and ruthless environment’. If
they are lucky enough to receive treatment, they are still vulnerable
to leaving prison without the support, the right medication, or even
a take-home naloxone kit to keep them alive.
So where does this ineffectual policy leave us? In the meantime,
our prisoner is trying to block out each day more than the last.
Claire Brown, editor
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May 2018 | drinkanddrugsnews | 3