Here you can find over 500 posts tracking every major development in the substance misuse sector since 2011. You can keep up with latest treatment stats, funding news, policy developments and treatment innovations. If you’re looking for something in particular, try the search box below.
The ACMD found that the current quality of drug treatment in England varies significantly and is being compromised by frequent re-procurement and shrinking resources.
The authors’ final conclusion notes that recovery is not just about stopping negative behaviour; it is also about making a positive contribution and engaging in society. 79.4% of survey participants reported having volunteered in community or civic groups since the start of their recovery journeys.
This month’s slides cover the relationship between social deprivation and drug and alcohol problems, substance misuse related violence, the injection of New Psychoactive Substances and how much of Afghanistan is under cultivation for opium amongst many other fascinating nuggets.
History teaches us that testing and security, although important components of an overall strategy, are unlikely to have a significant impact on levels of drug use in prison.
FEWS obtained and analysed 2,074 samples over the year from the internet, headshops, music festivals, the police and health clinics in order to identify NPS which are present in the UK or being offered for sale in the UK market.
The EMCDDA best practice portal is a valuable resource for commissioners, practitioners and researchers looking to ensure that their work is based on the best possible evidence.
This research highlights that, despite the fact that drinking has been linked to a number of health consequences, heavy drinking is still commonplace and is often seen as normal social behaviour.
The growth of service users’ involvement in the design and delivery of drug and alcohol services has made a big contribution to the evolution of those services so that they are more user-friendly and more likely to result in significant positive change for the people who use them.
I’ve long been a fan of Andrew Brown’s monthly round of interesting facts about alcohol and other drugs which he has unearthed from a wide range of recent reports, statistical releases and the like.
Heroin use in the UK has been steadily declining over recent years, so to lose more people to this drug is doubly sad. It is to be hoped that the take-up of naloxone has a significant impact and there is a distinct improvement in next year’s figures.
In summary, few countries in Europe have chosen to adopt widespread rehabilitative approaches, with most opting for simpler policies of decriminalisation or depenalisation — alternatives to prison, but not alternatives to punishment. The policies that are adopted are often carried out without robust monitoring or evaluation; large numbers of drug users are diverted from the criminal justice system in many European countries without any systematic follow-up.
