The Crazy Chemist - making a point or pointless?

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Legal-Highs-Frank-Campaign-Is-Not-Eough-Says-Family-Of-Drug-Death-Girl-Hester-Stewart/Article/200909315385088?lpos=UK_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_5&lid=ARTICLE_15385088_Legal_Highs%3A_Frank_Campaign_Is_Not_Enough%2C_Says_Family_Of_Drug_Death_Girl_Hester_Stewart

The above link is to an article published on the Sky News website that refers to the death of 21 year old, Hester Stewart, who died a few hours after using GBL. GBL is currently legal, although is reported to be classified as class C later this year.

The family has criticised the home office and the 'Crazy Chemist' Talk To Frank campaign and state that this young woman would still be alive if she had been aware of the dangers.

There are two points here, one the pointless loss of a young life and the other wider picture: Whist it is clear that classifying drugs as illegal does not stop people from using them, conversely, does classifying drugs as legal make people think they are safe (or at least safer than their illegal alternatives?).

If this is the case then when is education going to change? Isn't it about time that alcohol and other legal drugs, such as OTC pain killers are considered in the substance abuse equation more readily?

Do you think campaigns like the Crazy Chemist are effective or widespread enough ti actually make a difference?

 

DrugScope 2009 Survey - purity low = mixing high...

http://www.drugscope.org.uk/ourwork/pressoffice/pressreleases/Street_drug_trends_2009.htm

The above link refers to the 'DrugScope Street Drug Trends Survey 2009: Falling illegal drug purity 'accelerates trend' in uses combining different drugs'.

This survey emphasises that recreational use and substance addiction is unlikely to involve just one drug. Whilst the purity of drugs (such as cocaine have fallen to as low as 2% on the illegal market) has contributed to poly drug use there are also other motivations for the increase in people using a mixture of drugs. A significant proportion of users report using alcohol with illegal drugs, but the rise in the popularity of 'legal highs' and prescription drugs have added to the problem of 'mixing'.

When you think of addiction or recreational drug use how many drugs come to mind? Four? Five? Maybe more? The facts are that substance abuse does not revolve around a few drugs, but a huge variety of legal, illegal and new substances that have unreported effects, especially when mixed with other drugs. It is well known that Benzodiazepines when mixed with alcohol can be extremely dangerous, but what about drugs that are only just registering on the radars of many support groups? Ketamine is a prime example, it has been available on the streets of the UK for over 10 years, but how many GPs know about the drug and how it is used?

Heroin supply clinic - cuts crime? Other thoughts?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8255418.stm

The link above refers to the news story published by the BBC this morning regarding three clinics who have been trialling a new approach to address heroin addiction. Over the past 6 months these clinics have been supplying heroin for over 100 heroin addicts – the scheme involves clients attending a clinic twice a day for supervised injecting – unlike previous treatment plans, these clinics are not just using methadone, but also heroin.

The findings that have been reported this morning include a reduction in personal use of street drugs, meaning less money being spent on the illegal drug market and a reduction in crime. However, at £15,000 per person per year the NTA is considering the financial implications of the scheme. Aside from finances (treatment is reported to be three times as expensive as alternative treatment, but roughly three times cheaper than a year long prison sentence), this trial has raised many points...Some about the individual and some about crime and money....
For example, whilst the news report this morning suggested the scheme is designed to stabilise heroin addicts, it said nothing about the end goal – I.e. how long do individuals attend the scheme, what does completing the programme result in – safer using or recovery? Additionally, whilst the report advised that the 127 participants involved in the scheme had failed at other kinds of treatment, they have not reported any details. There is a proportion of addicts who do not successfully complete treatment the first time – this can be due many reasons, not least because the individual has gone into a unsuitable clinic and has been unable to engage. The point is, would £15,000 be better spent on 6 months of rehab where addicts learn to live drug free in a supervised and supportive environment, or do you think this new scheme will path the way to a healthily population and a serious reduction in drug related crime?

Hidden Addiction...

The stereotype of addicts is accurate and outdated. True or false?

Does the general population think of alcoholics as people holding white labelled bottles on park benches and of heroin addicts as homeless? If so, why is this...films, narrow minded TV documentaries and biased news reports? But what about the wider picture – the hidden addicts? The majority of addicts are not stereotypical, in fact their addictions are largely hidden from their families, friends and employers. Do we really know what we are looking for when we define someone an addict? For example, sex and love addictions as well as gambling and eating disorders are prevalent in the UK, but not so widely acknowledged as drug and alcohol addictions, at least not in films and journalism.

How can we provide support for all addicts if we don't know how to identify an active addiction? If you are worried about changes in a persons behaviour it might not be anything to do with an addiction, however it could also be directly to do with an addiction that we just don't see – or choose to see. Currently, there are hundreds of drivers who are over the drink drive limit, hundreds of people using at lunch time and hundreds of people who are hiding their addictions from the world around them – not everyone fits a stereotype.

When is old enough to be formally educated about addiction?

Is there enough information available to children and parents about legal and illegal drugs? There is plenty of information available on the internet, but is that enough to educate parents and their young children about the reality of developing a drug or alcohol addiction? Should there be more education in schools and if so, what age should children first be experiencing lessons about addiction? Would you say that 8 years old is too young or that 14 years is too old?

 

How could we go about implementing more information for children whose parents have an addiction: crisis lines, on line info, school welfare etc...

Know your limits?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8225029.stm

“English holidaymakers are turning to drink on their breaks with the average adult consuming eight alcoholic drinks a day, a survey suggests. That equates to 80 drinks over the course of an average holiday, to well over 200 units of alcohol. More than a quarter said they ended up drinking three times more than normal. But 70% of the 3,500 adults questioned by the Department of Health said they plan to make September the 'new January' by cutting back.”

Above is a section of an article published on the BBC website. The article mainly discusses how the English population over indulge when they go on their summer holidays and plan to cut back in September (the 'new January').

The advice is:

“Cutting back on alcohol for September is a great place to start; if you find yourself drinking all or most days of the week, start by taking at least two days off each week.”

The basic notion of the article is to find a healthy balance – which in my mind, with all the recent reports about the dangers of binge drinking, does not equate to binging for the whole of your summer holiday and then take a few days off in September. This is a cynical and one dimensional interpretation of a generally good piece of advice, however I am wondering how this sort of information is interpreted by those who do drink 200 units (or more) during their summer break? The article advises that a quarter of the 3,500 involved in the survey stated that they consume three times as much alcohol when on holiday compared to when at home. Although statistics can be misleading, taking the figures from this article, that is suggesting that even when at home some people are drinking 67 (200/3) units per week, which is still way over what the NHS advise is good for us:

 

Men should not regularly drink more than three to four units of alcohol per day.


Women should not regularly drink more than two to three units of alcohol per day.

So, should we be more concerned about people who overindulged on holiday where booze is likely to be cheap and free flowing or the 10 million people who regularly exceed (and often quadruple) the recommended daily amount of alcohol from the comfort of their own homes?

 

Pregnancy and illegal drugs - enough info and support or not?

If you want to stop smoking there is a host of government funded initiatives to support you - groups, one 2 ones, telephone buddies, patches, chewing gum, inhalers, giving up plans and tools to help you break your own individual smoking cycle....There is even a section dedicated to helping pregnant mothers to stop smoking (also how father's smoking can impact on unborn children). However, there seems to be a significant lack of readily available information regarding how illegal drug use during pregnancy can affect your unborn child.

It is common knowledge that using any substance when pregnant has the potential to cause negative consequences for developing babies, but it is interesting that you can watch numerous videos of a foetus' reactions to cigarette smoke, but getting the medical facts on how illegal drugs affect your unborn child is not nearly as accessible. Could this be a reflection of our countries determination to ignore wide spread drug use and addiction or is it that the facts, as it were, are still relatively unknown?

Should there me more information on how illicit drugs affect pregnant woman and their developing children even if the facts are still unclear?