UPFRONT
IN THIS ISSUE
Drink and Drugs News is
published by CJ Wellings Ltd,
Romney House, School Road,
Ashford, Kent TN27 0LT
t: 0845 299 3429
Editor: Claire Brown
e: [email protected]
Advertising manager: Ian Ralph
e: [email protected]
Reporter: David Gilliver
e: [email protected]
8
Designer: Jez Tucker
e: [email protected]
Subscriptions:
e: [email protected]
website:
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Website support by
wiredupwales.com
Printed on environmentally
friendly paper by the Manson
Group Ltd
Cover by proksima/iStock
ON THE COVER: Heroin assisted treatment
16
National
Naloxone
Conversation
REGULARS
4 NEWS
Addiction psychiatry
‘could be wiped out’;
alcohol admissions up
6 OUT OF
COMMISSION
Filling in for an absent
alcohol strategy
10 A HELPING HAND
Heroin-assisted
treatment –
transforming lives
in Glasgow and
Middlesbrough
War on drugs
complete failure
Evaluating
synthetic
cannabinoid
detox
CJ Wellings Ltd does not accept
responsibility for the accuracy
of statements made by
contributors or advertisers.
The contents of this magazine
are the copyright of CJ Wellings
Ltd, but do not necessarily
represent its views, or those of
its partner organisations.
12
PROUD TO WORK IN PARTNERSHIP
‘The power of connection is what the
DDN Conference is all about for us – a
great big fat networking opportunity!
A chance for our people to get
motivated and share best practice,
bringing new ideas back with us.’
Louise, The Arc (Ayriss Recovery Coventry CIC)
DDN is a self-funded independent publication. Our bespoke partnership packages provide
an opportunity to work closely with the magazine. Please get in touch to find out more.
14
‘The savings offered by HAT
give an obvious direction’
MANY YEARS AGO the UK treated heroin addiction as a medical
issue, with diamorphine scripts dispensed by GPs. It’s taking us a
long time to come back to that viewpoint but what might change
the political mindset is the economic good sense of heroin
assisted treatment (HAT, page 8). The savings represented by each
person involved in the programme are significant and give an
obvious direction.
Hopefully the summits being held by the UK and Scottish
governments (as we go to press) will not ignore the evidence from
here and abroad. Investing in treatment programmes – that not only
offer the appropriate medication but also essential ‘wraparound’
services – would have a powerful impact on these devastating
statistics and a transformational effect on quality of life.
A participant in the Middlesbrough HAT programme
comments that he has tried all kinds of things over two decades,
in and out of prison, and wasn’t expecting this to work ‘but then it
was just unbelievable, how different it is.’ The GPs at their recent
conference (page 12) also threw their
weight behind this evidence-based harm
reduction, so what are we waiting for?
See you at our conference on 18 March!
Claire Brown, editor
Keep in touch at
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
and @DDNmagazine
WWW.DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS.COM
MARCH 2020 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • 3