Finding new ways to treat addicts (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Finding new ways to treat addicts

9:15am Monday 6th September 2010 in

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New research reveals that one in four people drink dangerous levels of alcohol on a weekly basis, leading to a sharp rise in alcohol-related hospital admissions.

The survey, by the North West Public Health Observatory, found that northerners drink more than the rest of the UK, putting a strain on health services.

The Government is proposing to tackle the problem of alcohol and drug addiction by taking benefits away from alcoholics and drug addicts if they refuse treatment.

But it’s a system that won’t work, says addiction counsellor Yvonne Oliver, who set up and ran the Ripple Project, one of Bradford’s most effective drug and alcohol treatment services.

She fears that proposals within the Government’s new drugs strategy, to be launched later this year, don’t get to the root of the issue, and could lead to greater problems.

Yvonne claims the Government is currently funding treatments that are not addressing the problem of addiction, and that investing in more effective treatments would be money better spent.

“You need effective treatments, getting the drugs policy and the addiction science to match up,” says Yvonne. “You are not going to coerce addicts into treatment by taking benefits away from them. That will only increase pressure on the criminal justice service and social cost. It’s just not workable.”

Adds Yvonne, who has an MSc in addiction psychology: “I have got personal experience, and experience in working with addicts and helping addicts to get well. I have also worked with people with food addictions – they are all addicts. A lot of it is ‘self soothing’ for a rubbish childhood. People haven’t been looked after properly as children – society is full of it.”

Two years ago, Yvonne set up Addsol (Addiction Solutions), a community interest company finding solutions to problems created through addiction. Yvonne also works with people who have encountered problems with drugs or alcohol misuse.

Yvonne says misusers are not the same as addicts who may have psychological and emotional problems. She says addiction is a disease and should be treated differently.

This year, Caleb, Bradford’s community drug and alcohol rehabilitation programme based on Bolling Road, closed after more than ten years when it failed to secure sufficient funding.

Yvonne, who left Ripple two years ago, says it had previously failed to get day treatment commissioned. “And that was one of the most successful projects. Caleb was the second-most successful and they lost their funding. It beggars belief,” she says.

“You can walk around this city and look at people who are now in good jobs and are totally clean. At Ripple we got people through university. I have got people into management positions.

“The Government has to decide whether we are serious about doing something about this or we are just paying lip service.”

According to the Government’s drug strategy consultation paper there are currently 210,000 drug misusers in treatment.

The vision of the Government’s strategy is to prevent drug taking, disrupt supply, strengthen enforcement and promote drug treatment, with the focus on enabling people to become free from their addictions, including alcohol, to recover fully and contribute to society.

Under the proposals, the Government will also explore alternative forms of secure, treatment-based accommodation for mentally-ill and drug-misusing offenders, strengthen enforcement by targeting all points along the drug supply chain, disrupting street level dealers and tackling organised crime groups.

It will also ensure that law and enforcement responds swiftly and flexibly to the changing drugs landscape, including the emergence of new drugs and the cyber threat.

Drug supply in prison will also be reduced through a comprehensive range of measures based on local risk assessment, working closely with law enforcement partners and developing intelligence gathering capability.

A Home Office spokesman said experts are being asked for their views on a range of issues, with the aim of “encouraging users to address their dependency.”

He added: “We will carefully consider responses before launching the Government’s new drug strategy later this year.”