NEWS ROUND-UP
Twice as many prisoners
develop drug problems
Homeless people
dying of preventable
substance problems
A
t least 12,000
people experiencing
homelessness went
without drug and
alcohol treatment
in 2018, according to research by
St Mungo’s – a year that saw a 55
per cent increase in drug poisoning
deaths among homeless people.
Of more than 700 deaths
of people sleeping rough or in
emergency accommodation in 2018,
two in five were related to drug
poisoning (DDN, October 2019, page
4) and more than half were either
alcohol or drug-related. Around 60
per cent of people sleeping rough
now have a drug or alcohol problem,
says the charity, up from 50 per
cent four years ago, while London
has seen a 65 per cent increase in
women with substance problems
sleeping rough since 2014-15.
Alongside new data analysis, the
This is a neglected
health crisis that
requires rapid
action
Howard Sinclair
4 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • FEBRUARY 2020
report includes in-depth interviews
and peer research, and is one of the
most comprehensive looks at the
links between rough sleeping and
substance use in two decades. The
charity has declared the situation
a health crisis, with cuts in funding
for treatment services leading to
‘record numbers of people who are
homeless living with, and dying
of, preventable drug and alcohol
problems’.
The government needs to
urgently join up health and housing
in a new strategy to honour its
commitment to end rough sleeping
by 2024, the charity states, as well
as increase funding for multi-
disciplinary services and encourage
the use of trauma informed
approaches.
‘This is a neglected health crisis
that requires rapid action,’ said St
Mungo’s chief executive Howard
Sinclair. ‘Our research shows that
people who have already faced
traumatic experiences throughout
their lives are being turned away
from life-saving treatment just
when they need it most. Not only
are hundreds of people dying from
drug poisoning but even more are
living in terrible conditions on the
streets whilst tackling very serious
ill health. Now is the moment for
ministers to show they are serious
about the commitment to join up
health and housing to end rough
sleeping once and for all.’
Knocked back: Failing to support
people sleeping rough with drug and
alcohol problems is costing lives at
mungos.org
THE PROPORTION OF PRISONERS
who say they have developed a
drug problem while in custody has
doubled to almost 15 per cent in the
last five years, according to a report
from Reform. ‘The presence of drugs,
especially psychoactive substances,
has a significant impact on levels
of violence across the estate,’ says
The prison system: priorities for
investment, with levels of prisoner-
on-prisoner and prisoner-on-staff
assaults increasing by 30 per cent
since 2016. Among the report’s
recommendations are that the
Ministry of Justice considers banning
or reducing the use of short custodial
sentences to help ease overcrowding.
‘More prisoners are getting pulled in
to the prison drug market, and there
There are fewer
opportunities for
[prisoners] to use
their time in prison
to turn away from
drugs and crime
Mike Trace
are fewer opportunities for them to
use their time in prison to turn away
from drugs and crime,’ said Forward
Trust chief executive Mike Trace.
Document at reform.uk
Act now to avoid fentanyl crisis
FENTANYL AND ITS ANALOGUES
present a ‘significant ongoing risk’
to public health in the UK, according
to an ACMD report, with more
needing to be done to mitigate it.
While rates of registered deaths
involving fentanyls have increased
over the last ten years the number is
still ‘likely to be under-represented’,
says ACMD, as ‘sufficiently detailed
forensic analyses are not always
carried out’.
Among the recommendations
in Misuse of fentanyl and fentanyl
analogues are systematic screening
of all drug poisoning death
toxicology samples to include
analysis for fentanyl, and the
commissioning of research to look
at diversion and non-medical use
of strong opioids. The government
should also carry out a full review
of international drug strategy
approaches to fentanyl markets,
particularly ‘the US experience’,
and improve training for health
professionals, it adds. Report at
www.gov.uk
Highest Northern Ireland
drug death totals
NORTHERN IRELAND has recorded its
highest level of drug-related deaths,
according to the Northern Ireland
Statistics and Research Agency
(NISRA). There were 189 drug-related
deaths registered in 2018, 39 per cent
higher than 2017 and more than
double the level of a decade ago.
More than 85 per cent of the
drug fatalities were classed as drug
misuse deaths, up from less than
60 per cent a decade ago. Men
accounted for 70 per cent of the
overall total, with half of the deaths
involving three or more drugs –
115 mentioned an opioid on the
death certificate and more than a
fifth mentioned alcohol. A UK-
wide summit on how best to work
together to prevent drug-related
deaths will take place in Glasgow
on 27 February, the government has
announced. ‘People are dying from
drugs every day across the UK, and
this summit will bring us together
to tackle the issue of drug misuse,’
said event chair, crime minister Kit
Malthouse.
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