Bucking the trend
Unlike in England, drug deaths in Wales have been falling since 2010 – a result that can be traced to Welsh public health...
Cannabis class
With cannabis problems more prevalent than ever, Edinburgh charity Crew has devised a masterclass to share knowledge. Fergus Boden reports
Why are there are so few opportunities to...
Alcohol strategy is ripe for refreshment
Time is of the essence in overhauling the alcohol strategy, says the Drugs, Alcohol and Justice APPG. DDN reports.
‘We were asked by government, “what...
A vision to serve
At an event organised by the London Drug and Alcohol Policy Forum, the challenge of not losing sight of the individual in the new...
In search of excellence – new phase of CQC
David Finney gives his guide to understanding the next phase of CQC Inspection.
Read the full article in DDN magazine
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has...
Healthy exchange
DDN reports from the 2013 NNEF annual meeting in Bournemouth, which has become a keenly anticipated fixture for information and ideas.
Keeping harm reduction at the heart of...
Damp Squib?
You wait nearly 20 years for an UNGASS on global drug policy and then... well, not much. See below for the sector’s reactions to...
Consensus politics
As ever, this year’s meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs proved a controversial affair. But despite failure to reach agreement on major issues...
A question of why
Existentialism can give us a fresh angle on addressing the debilitating void that follows addiction, suggests Lana Durjava.
Read the full article in May 2019...
Creating a future
Prison can be an opportunity to change deep-rooted behaviour and begin to flourish, say the team at Addaction tell DDN.
‘I have learnt that the crime...
End of life care for people with problematic substance use and...
A special supplement on end of life care for people with problematic substance use and their families.
People with problematic substance use, and their families,...
On a mission to cure hep C
Curing hepatitis C has become a reality and makes sense for the public purse as well as public health. So let’s get on with...
Building a future
Steve Hodgkins is the founder and CEO of Jobs, Friends and Houses (JFH) – a multi award-winning social enterprise offering employment, peer support and...
Believe in better
Having to close Build on Belief because of coronavirus was like losing a limb, but they’ll soon be back to doing what they do best.
The last word
As the UKDPC wraps up its work, Roger Howard looks back on six years of helping drug policy become ‘fitter for purpose’ and considers...
From our foreign correspondent
In her first international column Chris Ford looks at Ireland’s lack of naloxone provision
Noticing a number from abroad, I answered my phone. Before I...
Primary position
‘I do believe that the best care for people who use drugs and alcohol is in their own GP surgeries where possible,’ says Dr Judith...
Meet Oscar, the DDN baby!
Jason and Elizabeth met at a DDN conference and brought little Oscar to meet us at this year’s event
Four years ago I was at...
Vital connections
Communities and conversation are key to making recovery a reality, delegates heard at Addaction’s annual recovery conference. Jill Stevenson reports
Communities working together was a...
UK drug policy
Get real
The government’s drug policies are not grounded in reality, says law student Alice Gambell
Reading the government’s annual review of its 2010 drugs strategy,...
Capturing Quality
ISO9001 is an internationally recognised, universal quality assurance standard most often associated with the manufacturing industries. So how can a system designed to ensure...
High risk strategy
Failure to provide naloxone at the point of release for most prisoners is putting lives at risk, says John Jolly.
Read this article in DDN
Those...
All in a day’s work – DDN 10 year special
Many things have changed over the last decade for the DDN team – staff, premises, and even the introduction of canine office mascots. But...
Hit Hot Topics: The word on the streets
The Word on the Streets
This year’s Hit Hot Topics asked, how can we give harm reduction most impact on the frontline? DDN reports, pics...
The Fear Inside
A study of people who used heroin in prison gives vital clues on reaching out to this significant and vulnerable cohort. Lana Durjava shares...
City challenge
We must learn to balance risk and freedom, says John Ashton in this month's Soapbox
Most of us enjoy a love-hate relationship with our cities. We expect them...
Community chest
This year’s RiTC conference asked what a recovery community could and should mean. DDN listened to the debate
‘Whether through peer-led and mutual aid recovery initiatives...
Captured on camera
A roving Recovery Street Film Festival aims to change public perceptions of addiction, as the organising team explains
This summer will see the launch of...
Family education- better than cure
With a bill aiming to ensure compulsory drug and alcohol education in schools making its way through Parliament, a new Adfam briefing looks at...
Never a dull moment
With a general election that could shape the sector for the next five years and beyond now looming, DDN looks back on another dramatic...
A healthy attitude
Alan Maryon Davis has spent his life in the public health arena. As Public Health England prepares to oversee drug and alcohol service provision, he talks to...
Zooming in
Technology is helping to make sure that recovery workers and clients stay connected.
Making choice real
How can we improve the range of options available to bring more people into services, asks DDN.
The options that exist for drug treatment surely...
Hole in the soul – can philosophers teach us about addiction?
Looking to the philosophers can give us valuable understanding of the nature of addiction, suggests Albert Yates.
On the face of it, Classical Greek philosophy...
A step ahead
Chief executive of the award-winning Broadway Lodge, Brian Dudley, talks to DDN about the importance of providing specialist care and dispelling preconceptions about the...
Giving the best chance
This year’s NHSSMPA conference was dedicated to creating lasting behaviour change, as DDN reports.
Read the full report in October's DDN Magazine
‘How can we give...
Drugs counselling in prisons
First person
Rev Peter Lolley trained as a drugs counsellor with the prison service. As he nears his retirement he shares his experience as a...
iCAAD: ‘Let’s push things forward!’
The iCAAD team are creating a vibrant and dynamic knowledge exchange – and they want you to be involved. Read on to find out...
Dying with their rights on?
Should we be doing more to protect people from harmful drinking, asks Mike Ward.
Read the full article in June 2018 issue of DDN
Some people...
Sheffield Addiction Recovery Research Group
Sharing knowledge
Andy Irving discusses a new project in Sheffield aimed at promoting research, good practice and joined-up working
A group of researchers from Sheffield Hallam...
Reducing the supply of high strength alcohol
Drink smart
DDN hears about the results from three city-wide schemes aimed at reducing the supply of high strength beers and ciders
Ipswich
Simon Aalders, public health...
The main man
One of the key figures in the story of drug treatment in England, ex-NTA head Paul Hayes talks to David Gilliver for DDN’s tenth anniversary issue.
Paul...
CQC consultation: Have your say!
Don’t miss the chance to change CQC inspections, says David Finney.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has recently issued a consultation on changes to the...
What a long strange trip it’s been
When DDN launched way back in 2004 Tony Blair was prime minister, the NTA was just three years old, and the money was flowing...
Accentuate the positive
Among the now-familiar talk of emerging challenges and stretched resources, delegates at DrugScope’s recent conference heard some positive takes on the new treatment landscape.
‘Whatever...
New era for CQC regulation
A lot has changed since the advent of the CQC and there are more changes on the way. David Finney explains what services can...
At the cutting edge
DDN looks back at a year that saw cuts continue to bite, deaths continue to rise, ‘county lines’ become headline news – and a...
Surviving and thriving: Kaleidoscope at 50
‘It’s down to you guys that people get a chance of a new life.’ Eleanor Conway pauses for a serious moment during a ‘stand-up’...
The ‘Cycle of Change’ – A step too far?
Have we been right to embrace the ‘cycle of change’,
asks Natalie Davies.
When Bill Wilson, who went on to co-found Alcoholics Anonymous, was hospitalised for...
Vital connections
Most drug-related deaths are of people not in treatment. DDN visits Equinox outreach team in Brighton to hear how they engage with a growing...
News Focus
Who Benefits?
Benefit reform, long a thorny topic, seems set to become one of the year’s defining policy issues. DDN looks at the truth behind...
Promotional Feature: Embracing Change
Gloucester House provides 12-step residential rehab for male clients from both statutory and private referrals. An historic 19th century townhouse in the market town...
Reading the signals
Gay men can find it very difficult to seek help when ‘chemsex’ becomes addictive. Leon Knoops explored the issue at Hit Hot Topics.
Chemsex is...
Are you involved?
Asking delegates from all over the country for a picture of service user involvement brought forth some distressing stories of groups being dissolved, dysfunctional partnerships...
Promotional Feature: Hepatitis C and Me
Kevin Stow, an ex-drug user and previous hepatitis C sufferer shares his experiences and talks about how being cleared of hepatitis C helped give...
Adapt and thrive
Drugscope's recent conference focused on how the sector could deliver high quality services in uncertain times. DDN reports.
The drug and alcohol treatment sector was...
Make or break time?
In a couple of days the country goes to the polls for one of the most unpredictable – and significant – elections in decades....
Generation drink
A major new report sheds light on the alcohol habits of the over-50s. Are they risking drinking themselves into an early grave?
Last month the...
Comment from the drug and alcohol field
The DDN letters and comments page, where you can have your say about the drug and alcohol sector.
To be included in the next magazine,...
Get the Picture
State of the Nation: One of the day’s lunchtime sessions heard delegates debate the current state of English drug policy
‘The subtitle of this session...
London calling
This year Blenheim, one of the UK's leading substance misuse charities, celebrates 50 years of delivering drug and alcohol treatment services across London. Blenheim...
CZAR GAZING – Finding the right balance
As deputy drug czar for the Blair government, Mike Trace oversaw the expansion of today’s drug and alcohol treatment system. In the fifth of...
A fighting chance
Military veterans do not tend to do well in traditional treatment settings. Jacquie Johnston-Lynch explains how Tom Harrison House is tackling the challenges head on
I...
Safeguarding conference 2015 – playing safe
Are we doing enough to protect children from their parents’ drug and alcohol use? At a recent safeguarding conference there was plenty of cause...
‘All or nothing’ – are 12-steps right for everyone?
The 12-step fellowships are a life-saver for some – but for others, the concept of total surrender can do more harm than good. Alex...
A place to connect: Addaction’s two-day conference
Addaction’s two-day conference addressed emotional wellbeing while celebrating the value of shared experience, as DDN reports.
‘Learn, share, connect and celebrate,’ urged David Badcock, Addaction’s...
An equal partnership
Meaningful service user involvement is about give and take, says Mark Pryke.
Read the full article in DDN Magazine
My role is to help increase opportunities...
Giving Voice
The morning’s second session, chaired by Peter Hunter, allowed audience members to put their concerns to some of the sector’s key players
The new drug...
Strategy for Survival
Challenging times mean smaller organisations must embrace new ways of thinking, says Caroline Cole.
We operate in difficult financial times, and for charities delivering addiction...
The Benzo Trap
Improving our understanding of benzodiazepines would save many lives, says Kevin Flemen.
Non-medical use of benzodiazepines creates big challenges for treatment services. There need to...
Review of the year
As the old Chinese curse has it, ‘may you live in interesting times’…
A truly seismic year for world events saw the triumph of populist...
DDN Conference – Opening Session
The day’s first session focused the current state of play in the treatment sector, the vital role of user involvement, and where things needed...
Media savvy
Who’s been saying what..? DDN’s round-up of what’s being said in the national papers
We do not want drug legalisation by the back door. But at...
Staying silent
Adfam share new research that reveals why families often struggle for a long time before seeking help with a problem drinker.
Drugs and alcohol are...
Nothing to declare
Over the next six issues, Mark Dempster shares his uncompromising story of drug dealing and addiction. Growing up in Glasgow, the young Mark already...
Voyage of discovery
With its Voyage of Recovery just completed, David Gilliver talks to Phoenix Futures chief executive Karen Biggs about overcoming polarisation and embracing change
When Phoenix...
Naloxone advocacy
Let's get it out there
The day saw repeated calls for life-saving, and cost-effective, naloxone to be made more widely available.
‘The case for take-home naloxone...
Losing the legacy
Mark Reid’s alcohol problems started with his dad and became the focus of his life. He describes how Nacoa gave him the insight and...
Training at the bar
As the Swanswell Inn opens for business on a Monday morning in Birmingham, it becomes obvious that this is no ordinary pub. The mobile...
Service user involvement
The worm has turned
The Worm, a new service user-led magazine recently launched in Haringey, is tackling stigma and promoting a positive image of people...
A common thread
Tony Bullock, Dr Samantha Weston and Dr Aliko Ahmed explain how the new focus on public health is an opportunity to involve...
Online support for women in recovery
Women first
Annalice Sibley talks about how she set up an online support group to help women in recovery
After working with women in substance misuse...
Reasons to believe
The day’s final session heard from Tim Sampey of Build on Belief on the importance of self-determination
Service user involvement is something I’ve been doing for ten...
Help at hand
The new UKAN website at www.ukan.network lets you tap into expertise when you need it. Pardeep Grewal explains.
Sometimes we want to ask a question,...
Staying ahead of the inspector
The Care Quality Commission is once again changing the way it inspects and rates substance misuse services. Make sure you are prepared, says David...
A capital idea
WDP’s Capital Card scheme has been helping to incentivise and empower service users, the team tells DDN.
Read the full article in DDN Magazine
People who...
How treatment services need to adapt to survive
If treatment is to survive it needs to make a more convincing case and reach out to new groups, argues Paul North.
Seven years ago...
CZAR GAZING – So how are we doing?
As deputy drug czar for the Blair government, Mike Trace oversaw the expansion of today’s drug and alcohol treatment system. In the second of...
working it out
Four lively workshops saw delegates debate healthcare, user groups, media and enterprise.
Doctor’s orders.
The right to treatment workshop heard from GPs and service users on...
‘What about me?’
The first Adfam/DDN conference for families affected by drug and alcohol use urged carers from all over the country to make their voices heard....
A helping hand
Phoenix Futures has launched the Griffiths Edwards Fund to champion his belief that ‘no one size fits all’
Access to drug treatment saves lives, gives...
Commissioning Quality
The new national substance misuse commissioner forum will play a vital role in responding to future challenges, say Chris Lee and Prof Jim McManus.
Even...
Alcohol and drugs in the news
Media savvy
The news and views from the national media
Laws against smoking have irreversibly shifted attitudes. The same drive is needed for alcohol consumption. The...
Winning attitude
Being recognised through a national award made Catherine Larkin and Danny Hames realise the value of Inclusion’s eager adoption of a naloxone strategy.
Last November...
Doing it for ourselves
Forget looking to government and corporations for answers to social problems. The answers lie in harnessing the strength within our recovery community, say...
Nothing to declare
In the third part of his personal story, Mark Dempster tries his luck with smuggling hash and finds some unsavoury new ‘friends’.
Terrorist Brian had been...
Consensus politics
As ever, this year’s meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs proved a controversial affair. But despite failure to reach agreement on major issues...
Copenhagen cannabis
The Danish government has just rejected proposals for ‘contained legalisation’ of cannabis, designed to limit drug misuse and remove profit from the criminal market,...
Height of awareness: peer-to-peer overdose prevention
Peer-to-peer naloxone initiatives are proving an effective way to tackle overdose risk. Lee Collingham describes how SCUF are grasping the opportunity in Nottingham.
Read the...
Work, rest and play
Addiction can be like swimming in shark- infested waters, but the recovery community are like people in a life raft holding out their hands,...
In mind and body
This year’s HIT Hot Topics conference delved into neuroscience to challenge our perceptions of drugs and drug taking. Max Daly reports
The fervour around crack...
Thanks for Sharing
Testing and treatment for hep C may have improved, but data sharing is lagging dangerously behind, warns a new LJWG report.
Read the full article...
Different perspectives
We need to dig deep for inspiration and redouble our efforts against reactionary policies, heard this year’s HIT Hot Topics. DDN reports. Photography by...
How do we keep up this momentum?
Fewer young people than ever are entering treatment for heroin and crack problems, and more people of all ages are successfully completing their treatment,...
Catching the wave
'A people are as healthy and confident as the stories they tell themselves. Sick storytellers can make their nations sick. And sick nations make for sick storytellers.’ Ben...
False economies
Is the focus on recovery undermining a highly skilled workforce? As Neil McKeganey said in 2010 (in Controversies in Drugs Policy and Practice), if you...
Harm reduction at music festivals
The song remains the same
Music festivals may go hand in hand with drug culture, but we can be loud and clear on harm reduction,...
News from the substance misuse sector
Media savvy
The news and views from the national media
The alleged purpose of the Bill is to ‘protect hard-working citizens from the risks posed...
Using life skills to aid recovery
Natural remedy
Kate Furey talks about how she used long-forgotten skills to get her life back on track
My life started to spiral out of control...
SWEAT – a new project for steroid users
A new project is helping steroid users to recalibrate their lives while providing evidence for better treatment, says Jody Leach.
At Open Road we launched...
Face to face
October's recovery summit in Scotland brought together people from all walks of life to explore what they could do for recovery, as Kuladharini explains.
Scotland’s...
Skills update
What’s the latest on professional training? Nadine Singh explains the DANOS review.
Skills for Health is undertaking a review of the National Occupational Standards (NOS)...
Review of the year 2019
Cash strapped Christmas
Battered by Brexit, the public went to the polls yet again. In the treatment sector, meanwhile, more long-established facilities are forced to...
Health risks of sugar
Hidden menace
For those with a history of addiction the well-publicised health risks of sugar could pose serious dangers. Nutritionist Helen Sandwell looks at the...
A patient worth saving?
We need to talk about service user involvement,
says Nick Goldstein.
Service user involvement, in one form or another, has been around a long time. An...
The Recovery Street Film Festival – The bigger picture
Junaid tells us how he became involved in making a film for the 2017 Recovery Street Film Festival.
In 2015 I was using crack cocaine...
The right focus
An effective review of commissioning will need input and inspiration from everyone involved – practitioners, commissioners, and especially those using services. DDN reports.
There have...
Save the children
Adfam’s recent report on the ingestion of drug treatment medications by children makes worrying reading. DDN looks at what could be done to reduce...
All Change
Things are changing fast at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) this summer. In the light of previous negative publicity there is a new structure and...
Getting real
The ‘dream drug’ ketamine can bring its users face to face with some stark realities that aren’t readily understood by health professionals. Mat...
On the right path
With Alcohol Awareness Week this month, Claire Carlow tells us how Forward’s alcohol pathway is revolutionising treatment in East Kent
When Forward took over the...
Just Be Yourself: support in the LGBT+ community
Robert Mee grew up feeling that he didn’t belong and used alcohol and drugs to counter his loneliness. Now, as chief executive of a...
Another Story – Social media is stigmatising drug users
Social media is full of stigmatising language about drug use. We should be using powerful first-person stories to create a more positive picture.
Bang for your buck
The launch of the ‘Decency, safety, security’ strategy for prisons was greeted with mixed reactions by the Drugs, Alcohol, and Justice Cross-Party Parliamentary Group....
Shared perspectives
Having had to postpone his trip to the DDN conference, Bill Nelles reflects on the differences in drug policy between the UK and his...
Adjusting the focus
Change, grow, live’s executive director of health and social care, Mark Moody, tells DDN about the organisation’s change of name and what it signifies.
‘I...
Recovery event in Leeds
Recovery Jam brought together workers, volunteers and clients from Leeds’ recovery community in a massively collaborative recovery event
Early in 2014, a team of representatives...
Harnessing the potential
Is the sector ready for co-production, asks Alistair Sinclair.
‘Co-production is an idea whose time has come,’ states Right here right now: taking co-production into...
My, how you’ve changed!
What has the past decade meant to you and your role? What have been the most significant changes to the sector? And what will...
Potent struggle
Working with an aid project in Uganda brought Martin Blakebrough face to face with the optimism of community growth and achievement – undermined by...
Nothing to declare
In the fourth part of his personal story, Mark Dempster pushes his luck to the limits abroad and comes home for a dose of...
Open market
How easy is it to have any drug you want delivered to your door with no questions asked? This and other issues raised at...
Catch them early
This year’s SMMGP and RCGP conference brought GPs, frontline workers, commissioners and service users together to explore the topics of prevention and early intervention...
Keeping older users in treatment
Playing for Keeps
With Scotland experiencing ever-higher numbers of drug deaths, its government is developing a strategy to keep vulnerable older users in treatment. DDN...
Psychoactive challenge
Knowing enough about each novel psychoactive compound that emerges in time to help clients can feel like an impossible task. Kevin Flemen gives a...
On the margins
DrugScope’s annual conference looked at equality and diversity in the sector at a time of shrinking budgets
‘We seem to be living in an increasingly...
Loaded dice?
The estimated 450,000 people in the UK with a gambling problem are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to getting access to treatment....
National forum for action
Delegates at the National Needle Exchange Forum’s annual conference heard inspiring examples of taking harm reduction to the next level. James Pierce reports.
More than...
Take-home naloxone in prisons
Research consultant, Arun Sondhi, from the Centre for Public Innovation (CPI), talks to DDN about the findings of his latest research into take-home naloxone...
Remembering Simon
Tributes have been paid to Simon Morgan; Change Grow Live recovery worker, DDN volunteer, and a much-loved member of the Stratford-upon-Avon music scene, who...
Recovery rising
September saw recovery activities taking place across the UK and Ireland. Richard Cunningham, Alistair Sinclair and Stuart Green look back on a vibrant recovery...
Media savvy
The news and views from the national media
Isn’t it time for a wider discussion on the potential effects of safe, regulated cannabis consumption on...
Drug use in prisons
No hiding place
Efforts to stop drugs from being smuggled into prisons are failing – so why aren’t we tackling prisoners’ drug use through...
A foot in the door
Seeking healthcare can be daunting for homeless people. DDN visits a practice in north London that takes every opportunity to engage.
Read this article in...
Quick, quick, slow…
The latest moves on UK tobacco control are leading us a merry dance, says Neil McKeganey
If you wanted to sum up the current advice...
Countdown to hep C eradication
NHS England’s target date to eliminate hepatitis C is now just six years away. DDN hears what progress has been made, and what’s left...
Tips for the home teacher
With many more weeks of home schooling to go, Becky Cranham's tips might save your sanity...
One week down, lots more to go. As it...
Recovery thrives
As Recovery Month continues to go from strength to strength with fundraisers, festivals and fun, DDN hears three inspiring accounts of this year’s activities.
A...
The explosion that never happened
At the end of the 1980s the threat of a crack epidemic in the UK loomed large as we scrambled to take heed of...
Vital Links
The group of NHS providers, NHSSMPA, is looking at new ways to make sure service users stay connected with essential skilled healthcare.
‘Nostalgia isn’t what...
The power of connection
A sensitive approach can be a lifeline to women whose lives revolve around drugs and sex work, as DDN reports.
‘Without these guys I probably...
On borrowed time
The delayed drug strategy – and lack of plan for an alcohol strategy – is pulling the lifeline from a sector in crisis, hears...
Changing profile
A survey of needle exchange clients revealed the need for staff to keep up with the times, as James Langton explains.
As a supplier of...
The state we’re in
Forcing stable people off their heroin scripts and into chaos is evidence of a British drug treatment system in terminal decline, says Erin O’Mara
‘I...
In safer hands?
When should the Mental Capacity Act be used to make decisions on behalf of vulnerable people? Mike Ward unpicks a complicated issue.
Read the full...
Access for autism
Are alcohol services meeting the needs of adults with autism? Alcohol Concern and the University of Bath are working to improve support for this...
A step too far?
Stanton Peele challenges the received wisdom of the 12-step approach
I recently received this email from a UK addictions worker:
‘Stanton, I was in a public...
Treatment challenges of novel psychoactive substances
Novel ideas
Dima Abdulrahim talks about meeting the treatment challenges of novel psychoactive substances
When it comes to managing substance misuse, there is an existing –...
Service user involvement
Keep it real!
The exhibition area was a vibrant bustle of networking all day as service user groups shared information on their activities. What did...
Become a Playwright
Outside Edge Theatre Company invite you to enter an exciting competition with a life-changing prize.
Outside Edge Theatre Company (OETC) is the UK’s only theatre...
CZAR GAZING – How do we get more for less?
As deputy drug czar for the Blair government, Mike Trace oversaw the expansion of today’s drug and alcohol treatment system. In the fourth of...
Let’s get radical – confronting fears on harm reduction
Harm reduction measures can be seen as controversial within the wider population, but isn’t confronting public fears an essential stage in moving the agenda...
The long game
Against the backdrop of round after round of ‘winner takes all’ retendering, Dr Gordon Morse calls for commissioners to consider evolution over revolution
There can’t be...
Straight to the point – NNEF conference
The National Needle Exchange Forum focused on some vital harm reduction issues, as DDN reports. Photography by Nigel Brunsdon.
Read the full article in May...
Still going strong
Now one of the oldest abstinence-based treatment centres in the UK, Broadway Lodge is celebrating 40 years of offering treatment for a variety of...
Recovering Through Nature
Phoenix Futures share the growth of their exciting Purple Camel Project.
Read the full article in May 2018 DDN Magazine
Phoenix Futures we have been...
Life and death issues
Drug-related deaths dominated the DDN conference’s Big
Debate session, which gave delegates the chance to put
their views across.
‘When people talk about drug-related deaths it’s about numbers...
Springboard to success
RAPt’s apprenticeship programme is helping people to use their experience of addiction to get back into work, as Nathan Motherwell explains.
Since 2013 RAPt have...
Hepatitis C ‘grossly under-prioritised’, warns charity
Just 3 per cent of people infected with hepatitis C are treated each year, despite it being curable, says a new report from the...
A smack in the eye — Michael Linnell’s graphic harm reduction...
Thirty years after Michael Linnell’s first graphic harm reduction campaigns burst onto the scene he recalls the outrage – and the results – that spurred him...
Complex Care
Have you noticed the world is getting more complicated? It's not just technology that's stretching our capabilities but, in the addictions field, it's the...
Battle lines
For many ex-service personnel the transition to civilian life can be a struggle, and it’s all too tempting to turn to the bottle to...
Out of commission
With the government’s long-awaited alcohol strategy showing no signs of materialising any time soon, the newly launched Commission on Alcohol Harm is hoping to fill in some of the gaps.
Fighting response
A Calderdale-based service is combining treatment provision with hosting an emerging recovery community. Michelle Foster explains the ‘warrior down’ concept
I took a call from...
Body of evidence
The UKDPC’s final conference saw politicians, policymakers, commentators and media representatives gather to discuss where next for drug policy. DDN reports
‘We need a new...
Case dismissed
Why are recommendations to improve custody-community transitions being routinely ignored when so many lives are at stake? DDN reports.
As drug-related death rates continue to...
Time for social action
Social action is the way forward in tackling complex needs, hears DDN.
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Complex Needs and Dual Diagnosis recently...
European Network of People who Use Drugs
Hands across Europe
It’s an exciting time for activism and advocacy among people who use drugs, says Mags Maher
For the first time in years, Europe...
Gambling with public health
Let’s increase the chances of a good outcome for gambling addiction, says Lord Victor Adebowale.
Read the article in September DDN magazine
Gambling is a common...
Cycling for recovery
The ultimate challenge
John Lowes takes us with him on a very personal journey
Today I walked two miles, swam one mile, cycled 20 miles...
Street wise
An award-winning scheme has been protecting vulnerable drug-dependent street sex workers from attack. Its director of services, Alex Feis-Bryce, talks to David Gilliver
The links...
The discovery of recovery – where did it all start?
Since 2008 ‘recovery’ has been at the heart of British drug treatment policy. As Mike Ashton reports, it has been used as both an...
Adios Recovery Riviera?
Why are we sending people miles away to rehab instead of supporting them to survive in their own community, asks Mark Gilman.
Read the full...
Engaging with the experts
Michael Gilbert talks to DDN about StreetRx.com, a new website that encourages the exchange of information between drug users while also promoting harm reduction
Meeting...
Coronavirus advice
Information, advice, and useful resources on coronavirus for treatment services, service users, and people who use drugs.
Please send us any information you or your...
Joining the dots
This year’s GPs’ conference had the tricky task of linking primary care to each element of the new and uncertain public health agenda, while...
Staying ahead
Changes from CQC have felt demanding. Let’s see inspections as an opportunity, says Jay Stewart.
Read the full article in DDN Magazine
Last year, the Care...
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Going Public
The UK’s public health bodies have added their voices to the call for decriminalisation.
Cry For Help
Painkiller...
What’s in a name?
NDTMS data set J could mean more than just a new way of saying the same thing, argue Jan Hernen and Dr Christopher Whiteley
We...
Specialist recovery housing
No place like home
Phoenix Future’s new report Building recovery friendly communities makes the case for specialist recovery housing as a pathway to long-term recovery. Karen...
Mind Over Matter
Mat Southwell opened the 2014 Kaleidoscope Conference by linking harm reduction to mindfulness: ‘I find injecting ketamine helps me with mindfulness.’ The challenge he gave delegates...
Young people and drugs
Active education
Caroline Bridges shares how Loudmouth’s drama projects are educating young people about drug and alcohol issues
This month we will have been running for 21...