Drink and Drugs News DDN November 2019 (1) | Page 3

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] 6 REGULARS 4 NEWS MPs call for overhaul of drugs policy; Middlesbrough launches heroin-assisted treatment 15 LETTERS & OPINION Your views, and comment from the media 16 REVIEWS The restorative power of walking Designer: Jez Tucker e: [email protected] 8 Subscriptions: e: [email protected] ON THE COVER: DDN is fifteen website: www.drinkanddrugsnews.com Website support by wiredupwales.com 14 Printed on environmentally friendly paper by the Manson Group Ltd Cover montage by JellyPics CJ Wellings Ltd does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of statements made by contributors or advertisers. Mark Moody on Change Grow Live’s new roots- driven strategy 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. New prescribing regimes could benefit service users 10 PROUD TO WORK IN PARTNERSHIP ‘I can’t believe DDN has been working with – and supporting Adfam –for 15 years! We can always guarantee the magazine will present a balanced and sympathetic perspective.’ Vivienne Evans, chief executive of Adfam 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. Forward Trust’s alcohol pathway is revolutionising local alcohol treatment Adfam’s five-point manifesto for family support 12 ‘We loved becoming the new forum for debate’ FIFTEEN YEARS AGO we published our first issue of DDN. I interviewed the drugs minister Caroline Flint, who talked about the new drug intervention programme (DIP) and the recently launched Alcohol harm reduction strategy. There was a lot happening – the Home Office was pumping money into the sector to ‘break the cycle between drugs and crime’. By our second issue we had a full letters page. Our new readers engaged with us fast and we loved becoming the new forum for debate. Ministers, service users, academics, policy makers – all joined in. We became more and more interested in our capacity to create a voice for fairer treatment and set up the annual DDN conference. As a small, independent team we have often been very ‘hand to mouth’, particularly as the funding for the sector began to dry up. But we felt that where there’s a will there’s a way, and we have always been determined to keep DDN free of charge to readers. Communications have changed radically and debate these days is often lurking on social media. But our readers are loyal, so onwards we go. Thank you for being part of our community. We hope you like our new design – make our day by getting in touch! Claire Brown, editor Keep in touch at www.drinkanddrugsnews.com and @DDNmagazine WWW.DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS.COM NOVEMBER 2019 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • 3