Comment
Crisis point
Last year had the highest number of drug-related deaths on record – 4,359 people, according
to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). What should we do to reverse this appalling trend?
URGENT MEASURES
First, people who
use opiates like
heroin need easy
access to quality
treatment in their
own communities.
This means the
right dose of a
replacement
medication and an experienced key
worker to support and listen to them.
Second, we need to invest more in
community outreach. Many local
services have faced cutbacks and the
reality is that outreach services barely
exist anymore.
Third, we need a national push to
promote the overdose reversal drug
naloxone. It is a safe, effective, life-
saving tool and we need to get people
trained and carrying naloxone all over
the country.
Fourth, the rise in cocaine deaths
shows treatment services need to do
more to reach out to this group.
These are crisis measures. They are
urgent and necessary. But we will only
make real progress if we tackle poverty
and disadvantage in our communities.
Mike Dixon, chief executive, Addaction
STRONGER FOCUS
ON PREVENTION
We believe that
drug policy should
be guided by the
best available
scientific evidence,
rather than by
ideology or political
expediency and this includes an
evidence-based approach to drugs
classification. We call for a stronger focus
on prevention and the root causes of
problematic substance use. Interventions
should be delivered by a skilled
workforce in collaboration and
consultation with peers in recovery and
12 | drinkanddrugsnews | September 2019
professionals from other areas such as
primary care, mental health, housing and
employment support. Drug users must
also receive equitable access to health
services to improve their physical health.
Royal Society of Public Health and
Faculty of Public Health
EVIDENCE-BASED
TREATMENT
Long- term heroin
users with poor
health, who
frequently use a
cocktail of different
drugs and alcohol,
are most at risk.
For this group the
best way to
prevent drug-related deaths is to get
people into treatment. Widescale
distribution of naloxone kits which can
be used to save someone’s life if they
overdose from heroin is also key.
Jay Stewart, director for public health
and substance misuse, Turning Point
A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS
We know that
drug-related
deaths are linked
to age and
complicated by
health conditions.
Poverty,
deprivation,
homelessness and
mental health conditions all increase
the chances of a life lost to drugs. That
is why we need investment in
substance misuse services that support
people to improve their physical and
mental health.
Working with our partners, we are
fully committed to offering
comprehensive care and supporting our
service users to be healthier and
happier. This includes providing
medical help and opportunities for
‘Our message to
any person or
organisa tion
that can prevent
another drug
related death is
simple – we are
ready to work
with you.’
housing, volunteering, training and
meaningful work.
We continue to prioritise the
national distribution of life-saving
naloxone kits. In the last year alone,
more than 1,500 lives have potentially
been saved through naloxone.
This is a national public health crisis
and action is needed. Our message to
any person or organisation that can
prevent another drug-related death is
simple – we are ready to work with you.
Mark Moody, chief executive,
Change Grow Live
LOSS OF HARM
REDUCTION TALENT
This report further
emphasises the
need for a focus on
effective harm
reduction
interventions as
well as a need to address key stresses
on the treatment system, such as
naloxone prescribing and the overall
capacity of the workforce which has
experienced a significant loss of talent,
particularly harm reduction specialists.
It is clear that the ability of the
treatment system to respond is being
stunted by ongoing budget reductions,
instability in commissioning
arrangements and the overall budget
available. When will government draw a
line in the sand and decide enough is
enough around drug- related deaths?
NHS Substance Misuse Providers Alliance
(NHS SMPA)
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE!
With this
condition, as with
many other
medical
conditions, we
need to follow the
evidence and not
what people
would prefer to be
true. The evidence shows us that
opioid substitution treatment and
other forms of treatment that go
alongside decriminalisation, such as
has been done in Portugal – increasing
welfare, reducing punishment and
providing public health services – have
been shown to reduce drug-related
deaths, and that’s what we should be
doing.
Most of the people who suffer from
chronic drug use have had very
difficult lives including bereavement,
trauma, abuse and neglect. Very few of
those people who have been using
heroin for a long time do that out of
choice – they do it because they are
caught in a situation where heroin use
is the only way to reduce their pain.
[For] people that have got into
problematic patterns of heroin use, the
most effective thing we can do is
provide them with good treatment
and stop punishing them.
Alex Stevens, professor in criminal
justice and joint chair of ACMD,
speaking on BBC Radio 4
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