The idea that we can support
each other through talking was
not isolated to a retreat. Katy
McLeod of Chill Welfare met
many people in festival settings
who were experiencing intensive
psychedelic interventions. The
network of volunteers offered
practical and therapeutic support
and ‘de-escalation’, which
involved ‘being careful around
questioning, humour, refocusing
and distraction’.
The purpose was to keep people
safe but was also an opportunity
for early interventions – a chance
to talk to relevant drug services.
The specialist interventions
included a dedicated mental health
response team, which appreciated
that people sometimes had an
experience they hadn’t expected.
They supported them ‘in that
moment’ and worked holistically as
a team of volunteers to provide a
safe space.
These initiatives were invaluable
in a climate of massive cuts to drug
services, and equally important
was the progress being made in
some areas by police and crime
commissioners. Megan Jones,
policy manager for West Midlands
PCC said reducing harm was a
key driver to strategy, alongside
reducing crime and cost to the
community. Birmingham officers
were now saving lives through
carrying nasal naloxone and their
eight-point recommendations
included heroin assisted treatment
(HAT) and drug consumption
rooms, alongside diverting people
away from the criminal justice
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system. Liaising with schools
and colleges was creating a new
dialogue with young people.
Lizzie McCulloch of Volte Face
also emphasised the power of
talking in ‘mobilising and engaging’
and inspiring change. Their
campaign to legalise cannabis
had engaged people from all
affiliations. ‘People underestimate
how influential it is having these
conversations,’ she said.
THE TIDE IS TURNING
The positive developments explored
at the conference – which included
research on agonist medications
for treating problematic stimulant
use, interesting research on
microdosing, and promising
progress on drug-checking
initiatives that led to harm
reduction interventions – gave a
strong flavour of optimism that
prompted the conference’s creator
Pat O’Hare to say ‘the tide is
turning on harm reduction’.
But the event’s purpose was
also to remind us to redouble
efforts against the backdrop of an
appalling – and preventable – drug-
related death rate.
Prun Bijral, medical director
at Change Grow Live, was invited
to give a provider’s perspective
and acknowledged that, with the
current public health crisis, ‘we are
in a very hostile system for people
who use drugs.’
The ‘whole person’ approach
was crucial he said, and this relied
on using people’s experience.
A lot of the data capture in this
sector was meaningless, but a
NO TIME TO LOSE
‘WE ARE NOT AHEAD OF THE CURVE by a long shot,’ warned Mick
Webb, project coordinator at CDF Bristol.
‘Drug-related deaths are at record levels and the government’s
response was to slash the treatment budget. When NDTMS data was
released on drug-related deaths, why wasn’t something done?
Imagine what the drug-related death figure would be if naloxone
wasn’t about.’
‘We can all talk, but 12 people in the UK will die today,’ said George
Charlton, leading the event’s naloxone workshop. ‘Only 16 out of 100
people using opiates across England are given take-home naloxone.
If we’re not giving naloxone, we’re giving the message that it doesn’t
matter if you die.
Locally, in the north east – ‘the drug death capital’ – their peer
network had been helping to create momentum that things were
changing.
‘There’s a palpable sense that harm reduction is returning,’ he said.
‘So let’s fucking do it. Overdose is reversable, death is not.’
good system relied on ‘bottom up’
feedback – learning about, and
from, the service user’s journey.
‘Data is really important, but
it’s about making space for people
to get together, off the hamster
wheel, to collaborate,’ he said. ‘We
need to do things better, work
better together, be open and share
what we have, and welcome all
perspectives.’
‘Harm reduction saves lives, but
what we need is more perspectives’
concluded the session’s chair Gill
Bradbury. ‘There are lots more tools
in the box – let’s use them.’ DDN
DEC 2019-JAN 2020 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • 9