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HOME OFFICE GO-AHEAD FOR
PILOT DRUG-TESTING SCHEME
THE HOME OFFICE HAS GRANTED THE UK’S FIRST
OFFICIAL LICENCE FOR A DRUG CHECKING
SERVICE. Anyone over the age of 18 can now take
a sample of their drugs to Addaction’s service in
Weston-super-Mare for the contents to be
tested. The service is completely anonymous,
with staff available to discuss support options
and offer harm reduction advice.
The pilot project will operate in partnership
with the University of Hertfordshire, with
additional support from drug testing service The
Loop. The testing process takes around ten
minutes, during which people will fill in a short
questionnaire to ‘allow harm reduction advice to
be tailored to their needs’.
Along with identifying the content of drug
samples, the service will help to gain an
understanding of new drug trends, identify potential
sources of harm and raise alerts. Samples will not be
returned to their owners.
‘This is an exciting development for Addaction, the Loop
and for UK harm reduction generally, resulting from several
years of hard work,’ said director of The Loop, Fiona
Measham. ‘Three summers piloting festival testing and a
year piloting city centre testing has shown that drug safety
testing can identify substances of concern, productively
engage with service users and reduce drug-related harm.’
‘This is about saving lives,’ said Addaction’s director of
pharmacy, and project lead, Roz Gittins. ‘We know people
take drugs. We don’t have to condone it but nor should
PRICE PROMISE
THE WELSH GOVERNMENT has committed to
introducing a 50p minimum unit price for
alcohol, following a public consultation.
‘Ministers remain of the view that a 50p
minimum unit price is a proportionate
response to tackling the health risks of
excessive alcohol consumption,’ the
government announced. It will now ‘lay
regulations’ to the National Assembly for
Wales for consideration later this year – the
assembly has already supported minimum
pricing when the Public Health (Minimum
Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Bill was passed last
year (DDN, July/August 2018, page 4).
we judge people or bury our
heads in the sand. It’s our
job to do whatever we can
to help people make
informed choices about the
risks they’re taking.
Checking the content of
drugs is a sensible and
progressive way to do that.
If people know what’s in
something, they can be
better informed about the
potential harm of taking it.’
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
‘We know
people take
drugs. We
don’t have to
condone it...’
roz GiTTins
POLICY PROBE
PAUL FLYNN
NEWPORT WEST MP PAUL FLYNN,
an early and vocal advocate of
drug law reform, has died aged
84. An early day motion he tabled
on the Psychoactive Substances
Bill stated that, ‘This House
regrets the depth of scientific
illiteracy’ in the document (DDN,
February 2016, page 4) while he
told DDN that the 2010 Drug
Strategy was ‘exactly the same as
every other drug strategy – self-
admiring, futile and the product
of the cowardice and stupidity of
politicians,’ (DDN, June 2011,
page 21). ‘The adjective that has
been used about me over the
years is “controversial”, which
means that everyone agrees with
every word you say years after
you say it,’ he added. ‘It’s just a
question of being patient.’
Change Grow Live,’ said Sova’s head of
operational delivery, John Leach. ‘We are
making this change from a position of financial
strength and this is a move that makes sense
for us as an organisation as part of a strategy to
have a bigger impact for the people we help.’
AN INQUIRY INTO GOVERNMENT DRUG
POLICY has been launched by the Health and
Social Care Committee, with terms of
reference including ‘What would a high-
quality, evidence-based response to drugs
look like?’ and ‘How effective and evidence-
based is treatment provision?’ Written
submissions welcome until 18 March at:
www.parliament.uk/business/committees/com
mittees-a-z/commons-select/health-and-
social-care-committee/
‘it’s just a
question of
being patient.’
PAul flynn
CHANGING TIMES
CHANGE GROW LIVE (CGL) and its subsidiary
Sova are to fully merge, the charities have
announced, with the integration of both
organisations’ infrastructure, expertise and
service delivery. Sova supports people with
multiple and complex needs, and last year
reported income of almost £4m, delivering
more than 40 services across England and
Wales. ‘We’ve achieved a great deal under the
Sova brand over the years, however this seems
like the right time to work more closely with
VIOLENCE REVIEW
THE GOVERNMENT HAS APPOINTED
PROFESSOR DAME CAROL BLACK to lead a
wide-ranging
review into ‘the
ways in which
drugs are fuelling
serious violence’.
Professor Black
previously led the
government’s
review looking at
whether people
with drug or
alcohol problems
should be made to
undergo treatment in order to claim benefits
(DDN, September 2015, page 4). The ‘changing
drugs market’ has been identified by the
government’s serious violence strategy as a
driver of recent increases in violent crime, and
the review will look at ‘who drug users are,
what they are taking and how often’ to build
a comprehensive picture of the issues, the
Home Office states.
RISK ASSESSMENT
AN EXPERT WORKING GROUP of the
Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) is to
begin a wide-ranging review into the ‘benefits
and risks’ of opioid medicines, including
dependence. ‘In response to the growing
concern internationally and in the UK about
overuse and increased prescribing of opioid
analgesics, we are seeking expert advice on the
benefits and risks of opioid medicines, including
best practice for risk minimisation,’ said director
of MHRA’s vigilance and risk management of
medicines division, Dr June Raine.
March 2019 | drinkanddrugsnews | 5