Posts Tagged Drug use

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders: Guidance for Schemes

July 15, 2011 at 9:15 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged , ,

This guidance was published in July 2011.

“Drug Treatment and Testing Orders were introduced by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Scottish pilot sites were established in Glasgow and Fife and were subject to research and evaluation from the Centre for Social Work Research at the University of Stirling. This research, published in October 2002, reported broadly positive outcomes. A study by the University of Stirling on longer term reconviction rates was published in October 2004.

Since the introduction of the pilot sites the availability of DTTOs has been rolled out to a large number of courts around the country. Plans are now being made for the order to be available to the High Court, all sheriff courts and the Stipendiary Magistrates Court by June 2005.”

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Taking Drugs Seriously: A Demos and UK Drug Policy Commission report on legal highs

May 27, 2011 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged , ,

This report was published in May 2011.

“The proliferation of new psychoactive substances, or ‘legal highs’, in recent years has thrown the existing regulatory measures for drugs into sharp relief. As quickly as policy makers seek to control new substances through the Misuse of Drugs Act, others are being manufactured and put on the market. The effects of these new substances are unknown and untested; it is this uncertainty combined with easy accessibility that presents major challenges to public safety.

However, these challenges also provide an opportunity to look again at drug control policy without a rerun of redundant debates about whether to be ‘tough’ or ‘soft’ on drugs. Instead, this report adopts a systems approach and considers drug policy as a ‘wicked issue’ to which there is no solution, and no ultimate winners or losers.

It is 40 years since the Misuse of Drugs Act became law, and the ‘drug problem’ is no nearer being solved. Taking Drugs Seriously argues that it is time for a new approach to policy making, legislation and debate on drugs issues, focusing on developing consensus while building better evidence about what works.

A background paper, which reviewed international experiences of regulating new psychoactive substances, was prepared for this project by Professor Peter Reuter of the University of Maryland, and published by UKDPC.”

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WHO Publications on Drugs and Alcohol

May 11, 2011 at 10:36 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged , , , ,

These reports were published in 2010.

ATLAS on Substance Use (2010) – Resources for the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders

“The ATLAS on Substance Use provides a structured description of available prevention and treatment resources for substance use disorders in WHO regions, different income economies and the world. Chapter 1 introduces the epidemiological aspects of substance use disorders and provides information on the level of need for treatment. Chapter 2 illustrates health service resources. Data on the implementation of pharmacological treatment for substance use disorders are presented in chapter 3. Chapter 4 covers human resource aspects. Policy and legal resources are discussed in chapter 5, before concluding with resources for the prevention of substance use in chapter 6. The ATLAS report is based on a survey instrument and has been accomplished through collaboration with WHO regional and country offices, national focal points and a number of leading experts in the field of psychoactive substance use.”

Global strategy to reduce harmful use of alcohol

“For the first time, delegations from all 193 Member States of World Health Organization (WHO) reached consensus at the World Health Assembly on a global strategy to confront the harmful use of alcohol. Since 2008, WHO has been in the process of drafting a global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. On Friday 21 May the Sixty-third session of the World Health Assembly adopted by consensus resolution WHA63.13, which endorses the global strategy.

The harmful use of alcohol is a serious health burden, and it affects virtually all individuals on an international scale. Health problems from dangerous alcohol use arise in the form of acute and chronic conditions, and adverse social consequences are common when they are associated with alcohol consumption. Every year, the harmful use of alcohol kills 2.5 million people, including 320 000 young people between 15 and 29 years of age. It is the third leading risk factor for poor health globally, and harmful use of alcohol was responsible for almost 4% of all deaths in the world, according to the estimates for 2004.”

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Specialist drug and alcohol services for young people – a cost benefit analysis

March 18, 2011 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged , , ,

This report was published in February 2011.

“The Department for Education (DfE) appointed Frontier Economics to undertake a cost benefit analysis of drug policy relating to young people. This project is an element of a broader piece of work being carried out by the Centre for Analysis of Youth Transitions.

There are two main elements of the study: understanding the amount that is spent in total and per person on specialist drug and alcohol services for young people in 2008-09; estimating and valuing the benefits of young people’s drug and alcohol treatment – measured as a reduction in the economic and social costs of drug and alcohol misuse.”

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By their fruits… Applying payment by results to drugs recovery

March 17, 2011 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged , ,

This report was published in February 2011.

“This briefing reviews the possible impacts of the introduction of payment by results to fund treatment and recovery services for problem drug users. It outlines how payment by results works, examines how payment by results has been used elsewhere, and discusses the issues and challenges that will affect its introduction for drug treatment.

This work is part of a wider UKDPC project considering the impact on drug services of a move towards greater localism in a period of financial austerity.”

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Getting Serious about Stigma in Scotland:The problem with stigmatising drug users

March 16, 2011 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged , ,

This report was published in February 2011.

“A qualitative study of the stigma experienced by current and ex-drug users and their families and the impact this has had on their lives was undertaken using focus groups and a web survey. The principal findings of this research were as follows:

• Feelings of shame and worthlessness prevent people and their families seeking help, which may exacerbate their problems.
• Low self-esteem prevents a belief in recovery, to which the long-term nature of stigma contributes.
• Participants in the research reported being stigmatised by professionals in a wide range of healthcare and social care settings. For example, many participants reported having problems obtaining pain relief, even when quite severely hurt, because of an implicit assumption that they were just after a ‘fix’.
• The negative attitude of some social workers was an issue raised in many of the focus groups, both with drug users and their families. For many drug users the desire to care properly for their children is a key reason for trying to overcome their dependency, so this is an area that can have a huge impact on help-seeking and recovery, although clearly a balance must be struck with respect to child protection.
• Stigma makes it difficult for people recovering from drug dependence to obtain jobs, which are important for reintegration and participation in society. For Getting Serious about Stigma in Scotland 6 example, people in our study reported having offers of employment withdrawn when their history of drug use became known.
• The stereotypes and associated fear attached to people with drug problems and the assumption that they never change can cause difficulties for people with drug problems in both getting and retaining accommodation.”

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2009/10 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: Drug Use

February 2, 2011 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged

This report was published in January 2011.

“The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey ( SCJS) is a large-scale continuous survey measuring people’s experience and perceptions of crime in Scotland, based on approximately 16,000 in-home face-to-face interviews conducted annually with adults (aged 16 or over) living in private households in Scotland. The results are presented in a series of reports including this report on the extent of self-reported illicit drug use. The 2009/10 survey is the second year of the SCJS, with the first being conducted in 2008/09, although crime and victimisation surveys have been carried out in Scotland since the early 1980s.

Information on experience of illicit drug use was collected through the self-completion section of the questionnaire, which was completed by 13,418 (84%) of the 16,036 respondents to the main SCJS questionnaire.

This report identifies the extent of self-reported illicit drug use ever, in the last year and in the last month and examines the experience of first drug use and drug use in the last month by adults aged 16 or over .”

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Research for Recovery: A Review of the Drugs Evidence Base

September 21, 2010 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged ,

These research findings were published September 2010.

“This review of the drugs evidence base was commissioned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the National Drugs Evidence Group. The main aim of the review was to show where the evidence base is already strong, what the evidence tells us and what we still need to know to support Scotland’s National Drugs Strategy, The Road to Recovery: A New Approach to Tackling Scotland’s Drug Problem. It examines both the published evidence base and the policy context in which the strategy sits and this provides the link between the evidence base for addictions and the wider social, health and economic context in which recovery occurs. The review set out to assess what we know about ‘what works’ in drugs recovery and identify the core questions that need to be answered when assessing the effectiveness and impact of The Road to Recovery.

Main Findings

  • The evidence base on recovery is growing, demonstrating that recovery-focused approaches can augment and enhance treatment interventions, and maximise wider benefits to families and communities.
  • There is little UK-based research on recovery and the international evidence base is limited by three factors – much of it is quite dated, much of it is based on alcohol or mental health rather than illicit drugs, and almost all of the evidence originates from the United States.
  • In the drugs research field, there is a considerable history of treatment effectiveness cohort studies and these consistently show significant improvements for clients in treatment services across a range of indicators including health, offending, risk-taking and substance use.
  • Differences in the effectiveness of different forms of abstinence-oriented treatment (such as community detoxification and residential rehabilitation) have been less consistently researched and reported.
  • With the exception of one medium-term (33 month) outcome study (Drug Outcome Research In Scotland – DORIS), there is little longitudinal treatment research in Scotland and very little clinical research activity. Thus, the evidence base is largely derived from English and international findings and from ‘expert’ reviews and policy guidance.
  • However, there is a clear need for ‘technology transfer’ research to determine what can be learned from other settings, particularly mental health recovery and the substance misuse recovery experience in the United States, and to test its applicability to the drugs field in Scotland.
  • Findings from this review emphasise: 1) the importance of providing ongoing support to individuals following structured treatment; 2) the positive outcomes associated with mutual aid and peer support in the community; and 3) the importance of assertive follow-up support as aftercare.
  • The review highlighted an evidence gap on the impact of drug treatment aftercare in Scotland and there is a need for research and evaluation on this in the future.
  • The overall consensus of key experts working in the drugs field, who were consulted as part of the review, was that a clear strategy is needed for developing a Scottish evidence base that will both inform the delivery of The Road to Recovery and assess its impact.
  • The findings from this research could help to inform the commissioning and delivery of services in Scotland, the establishment of recovery-focused outcomes and indicators, and the involvement of service users and communities in developing knowledge about recovery and service provision.”

The full review is also available.

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National Forum on Drug Related Deaths in Scotland: Annual Report 2009-10

August 10, 2010 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged , ,

This report was published in July 2010.

“The importance of understanding and taking action to reduce drug-related deaths has never been greater. Rising numbers of cases, especially in the older age groups, and a renewed interest in the longer term prospects for drug users have highlighted the risks and prospects for those who have been drug users for long periods of their lives. The lack of adequate information about numbers involved, the dangers for those who have been in treatment for many years and the range of possible prevention measures make further investigation and action on this issue essential.”

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Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2009: Public Attitudes to Drugs and Drug Use in Scotland

May 28, 2010 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged , ,

These research findings were published on 25th May 2010.

“This report summarises the key findings from a report exploring public attitudes towards illegal drugs and drug misuse in Scotland, based on data from the 2009 Scottish Social Attitudes survey. It focuses in particular on attitudes towards opiate misuse, and on views of potential policy responses to this. However, it also places such attitudes in the context of wider views and experiences of illegal drugs.”

Main Findings
■ Support for legalising cannabis – which increased in Scotland (as in the rest of the UK) in the late 1990s – has fallen considerably in more recent years, from 37% in 2001 to 24% in 2009. Attitudes towards prosecution for possession of cannabis for personal use also hardened between 2001 and 2009.
■ Most people said taking cocaine occasionally is wrong – 76% rated it as 4 or 5 on a scale where 5 meant ‘very seriously wrong’.
■ 45% of people agreed that ‘Most people who end up addicted to heroin have only themselves to blame’, while just 27% disagreed.
■ Around half (53%) disagreed that ‘most heroin users come from difficult backgrounds’ (29% agreed).
■ Among those in paid employment, around half (47%) said they would be ‘very’ or ‘fairly comfortable’ working alongside someone they knew had used heroin in the past, while around 1 in 5 would be uncomfortable.
■ Just a quarter (26%) said they would be comfortable with someone who was receiving help to stop using heroin moving near to them, while half (49%) would be uncomfortable.
■ There was no public consensus on what should be the top government priority for tackling heroin use in Scotland – 32% chose ‘tougher penalties for those who take heroin’, 32% ‘more help for people who want to stop using heroin’ and 28% ‘more education about drugs’.
■ Just 16% agreed that people who possess heroin for personal use should not be prosecuted (compared with 34% for cannabis).
■ Public support for providing clean needles to injecting drug users fell from 62% in 2001 to 50% in 2009.
■ Opinion on educating young people about safer drug use was split – 44% agreed that young people should be given information about how to use drugs more safely, but 40% disagreed.
■ Four out of five (80%) agreed that ‘the only real way of helping drug addicts is to get them to stop using drugs altogether’. However, 29% agreed that ‘most heroin users can never stop using drugs completely’, while 27% said they neither agreed nor disagreed or did not know.
■ 63% disagreed that ‘Someone who has been a heroin addict can never make a good parent, even if their drug problems are in the past’.
■ Around two thirds (64%) said that young children of heroin users should be placed into temporary foster care until the parents stop taking heroin. A further 1 in 5 believed the child should stay at home while the family receives help from social workers and just 8% said the child should be permanently adopted by another family.

The full report is also accessible online.

Image taken from www.softchalk.com

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