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BIG RISE IN NUMBERS SEEKING
TREATMENT FOR CRACK alcohol-specific deaths is therefore ‘a more
conservative estimate on the harms related
to alcohol misuse’, the ONS states. Alcohol-
specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2016
at www.ons.gov.uk
THERE HAS BEEN A 23 PER CENT INCREASE IN THE
NUMBER OF PEOPLE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR CRACK
COCAINE , from 2,980 to 3,657, according to the latest
figures from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring
System (NDTMS). The number presenting with
combined crack and opiate problems was also up by 12
per cent, to 21,854.
People presenting with a dependency on opiates
made up the largest proportion of the 279,793 people
in contact with drug or alcohol services in 2016-17, at
52 per cent. However this overall total marks a 3 per
cent reduction from the previous year’s figure, with the
number seeking treatment for opiates down by 2 per
cent and the number receiving treatment for alcohol
alone down by 5 per cent, to 80,454. The number of
alcohol-only clients in contact with services is now 12
per cent below its 2013-14 peak.
The median age of people with alcohol-only
problems was 46, while opiate clients had a median age
of 39. The number of under-25s commencing treatment
is now 45 per cent below the level of a decade ago, with
just over 11,600 18-24 year olds presenting – mainly for
cannabis, alcohol or cocaine.
The number of people presenting with NPS problems
was 29 per cent down on the previous year, to 1,450,
largely driven by an almost 50 per cent drop in
presentations among the under-25s. Individuals who
present to treatment using NPS are also ‘more likely to
be homeless’, the report states.
The exact reason for the increased prevalence of
crack use was not clear but ‘likely to be driven in part by
the affordability and purity of crack and cocaine’, said
PHE’s director of alcohol, drugs and tobacco, Rosanna
O’Connor. Changes in ‘dealing patterns and drug supply
networks, such as the “county lines” phenomenon’, are
also likely to be playing a role, she added.
Meanwhile, figures from the Home Office show that CONTROLLING
CONSULTATION
drug seizures in
England and Wales
are down by 6 per
cent to their lowest
level since 2004.
While seizures of
class B drugs fell by
9 per cent, there
were almost 15,000
seizures of cocaine,
amounting to more
than 5,500
kilograms – the
largest quantity
since 2003.
However, ‘what are
portrayed as
massive seizures
are a minor cost of
business for
organised crime,’
said Transform’s
head of campaigns
Martin Powell, and
‘less significant
than the 2 per cent
food wastage
supermarkets like
Morrisons factor
into their supply
chains’.
mARtIn PoWell
Adult substance
misuse statistics
from the National
Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) 1 April 2016
to 31 March 2017, and Seizures of drugs in England and
Wales, financial year ending 2017, at www.gov.uk
OLDER ISSUES
BREAKING BARRIERS
LEGAL BARRIERS to the establishment of
consumption rooms could be overcome if
a pilot was allowed to operate under
police supervision, says Volte Face, with
the UN advising that the facilities are
consistent with its conventions as long as
they reduce harm and lead to treatment
and rehabilitation. ‘The fact that drug-
related deaths are now at record levels
is the clearest possible indicator that
existing policies are inadequate and
that new approaches and
interventions are required,’ said chair
of the Drug, Alcohol and Justice
Cross-Party Parliamentary Group,
Lord Ramsbotham. Back yard at
volteface.me
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
‘What are
portrayed as
massive
seizures are a
minor cost of
business for
organised
crime.’
‘new approa -
ches and
interventions
are required.’
loRd RAmsbothAm
LAST YEAR SAW 7,327 ‘ALCOHOL-SPECIFIC’
DEATHS IN THE UK , according to ONS
figures, with the highest death rate in the
55-64 age group and fatalities among men
aged 70-74 increasing by around 50 per
cent since 2001. The death rate remains
around 55 per cent higher among men
than women, and although Scotland is still
the UK country with the highest rate it has
also seen the largest fall since the early
2000s. Since its last statistical release ONS
has revised its definition of alcohol-specific
deaths to include conditions where death is
a ‘direct consequence’ of alcohol use – such
as alcoholic liver disease or alcohol-induced
pancreatitis – but not those where ‘only a
proportion’ of deaths are caused by alcohol,
such as liver cancer. The definition of
THE GOVERNMENT IS CONSULTING on
whether – and how – to schedule
pregabalin and gabapentin under the
Misuse of Drugs Act, following a
recommendation by ACMD that they
become class C substances. Consultation at
http://www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.g
ov.uk/s/4WE QO/ until 22 January 2018.
ARBITRARY AGES
THREE QUARTERS OF RESIDENTIAL ALCOHOL
TREATMENT FACILITIES are failing older
adults because of ‘arbitrary age limits’,
according to Alcohol Research UK. More
than half exclude people at 66, while 75 per
cent impose arbitrary limits of between 50
and 90, says Accessibility and suitability of
residential alcohol treatment for older
adults. Older people who do access rehab
may also drop out because they find the
environment ‘unwelcoming or intimidating’,
the report adds. Rehab centres are ‘unfairly,
and perhaps illegally, excluding older
people, who would otherwise benefit from
residential treatment,’ said CEO Dr Richard
Piper. Meanwhile, a separate Drink Wise,
Age Well report found that practitioners are
prioritising younger people for referrals,
with reasons including perceptions that
older drinkers are ‘too old to change’, that
their care needs are too complex or that
their age and life expectancy mean ‘it’s not
worth intervening’. Reports at
alcoholresearchuk.org and
www.drinkwiseagewell.org.uk
GOING COUNTRY
‘COUNTY LINES’ ACTIVITY – where urban
drug dealing networks expand into rural
areas – has now been reported by almost 90
per cent of police forces in England and
Wales, according to the National Crime
Agency (NCA). Almost three quarters of
forces also reported associated exploitation
of vulnerable people. ‘The data tells us that
county lines groups continue to exploit the
vulnerable, including children and those with
mental health or addiction problems, at all
points of their drug supply routes,’ said the
NCA’s head of drugs threat and intelligence,
Lawrence Gibbons. County lines violence,
exploitation & drug supply 2017 at
www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk
December/January 2018 | drinkanddrugsnews | 5