Basic HTML Version
FEATURES
6
NEWS FOCUS
Despite a failure to reach agreement on major issues at the 2014 Commission on
Narcotic Drugs, DDN hears how things may be changing below the surface.
8
A STEP TOO FAR
Stanton Peele challenges the received wisdom of the 12-step approach.
12 A PLACE TO THRIVE
Recovery should mean focusing on what is strong, not what is wrong – and that’s where
the ABCD approach comes in, says Rebecca Daddow.
16 THE WHOLE DETOX
Studying homeopathy led Tracy Woodward Gagetta to explore an innovative titration
system for drug detoxification, as she explains.
18 50 GENT
As Blenheim celebrates its 50th anniversary, chief executive John Jolly talks to David Gilliver
about the organisation’s future direction and some of the risks facing the field.
REGULARS
4
NEWS ROUND-UP
: MPs demand ‘urgent action’ on liver disease • Government announces tougher
powers to seize cutting agents • UN drug statement ‘an embarrassment’, say harm reduction groups •
Increase in drug-related deaths for older Scots • News in brief.
7
COMMENT
:
Lana Durjava attended the CND meeting in Vienna and found it woefully short on action,
as she tells DDN
10 GOOD PRACTICE EXCHANGE
:
Charlotte Tarrant explains how Equinox Care’s mutual aid groups for
cannabis and alcohol misuse have built a network of support for local users.
13 POST-ITS FROM PRACTICE
:
No two people are the same – and neither should we expect their treatment
to be, says Dr Steve Brinksman.
14 MEDIA SAVVY:
Who’s been saying what..?
14 LETTERS
:
Drug-free hero; Competition time.
17 ENTERPRISE CORNER
:
Forming partnerships helped TSBC stay a step ahead of the inevitable financial
constraints, says Amar Lodhia.
20 SOAPBOX:
Drug treatment within custody needs an overhaul, says Alan Rushmore.
THROUGHOUT THE MAGAZINE: COURSES, CONFERENCES, TENDERS
Editor:
Claire Brown
t: 01233 638 528
e: claire@cjwellings.com
Assistant Editor:
Kayleigh Hutchins
t: 01233 633 315
e: kayleigh@cjwellings.com
Reporter:
David Gilliver
e: david@cjwellings.com
Advertising Manager:
Ian Ralph
t: 01233 636 188
e: ian@cjwellings.com
Designer:
Jez Tucker
e: jez@cjwellings.com
Publishing Assistant:
Annie Hobson
e: annie@cjwellings.com
Subscriptions:
t: 01233 633 315
e: subs@cjwellings.com
Website:
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Website maintained by
wiredupwales.com
Printed on environmentally
friendly paper by the Manson
Group Ltd
Cover: VIDOK, iStock
CJ Wellings Ltd does not
accept responsibility for the
accuracy of statements made
by contributors or advertisers.
The contents of this magazine
are the copyright of CJ Wellings
Ltd, but do not necessarily
represent its views, or those of
its partner organisations.
April 2014 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 3
F
EDERATION OF
D
RUG AND
A
LCOHOL
P
ROFESSIONALS
Tough talk
A challenge to ideology is a call to debate
Published by CJ Wellings Ltd,
57 High Street, Ashford,
Kent TN24 8SG
PUBLISHERS:
PARTNER ORGANISATIONS:
p18
This issue
p12
DDN is an independent publication,
entirely funded by advertising.
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONS:
Editorial – Claire Brown
p16
THE 12-STEP MOVEMENT
is close to many readers’ hearts and by publishing a critical article about it we do
not want to offend the many readers who feel their life is in its debt. But if you disagree with Stanton Peele’s
assertion (page 8) that the 12-step model should be abandoned because it ‘distorts our understanding of why
people become addicted, downplays the great potential for self-recovery’ and ‘diminishes people’s sense of their
ability to manage themselves and their worlds’, please tell us why, as there’s much at stake in this debate. While
hoisting the flag of caution about blindly following American ideologies, we also hear from Rebecca Daddow
(page 12) who shares an exciting approach stemming from a largely American evidence base, which is leading to
innovative programmes in prisons and the community, focusing on strengths to transform the prospects of
people on the margins.
The worst thing we could do is not to have such debates at all. As Lana Durjava reports from the CND meeting
in Vienna (page 7), attended by representatives from UN member states including Russia, Iran and Pakistan, this
important forum on drug policy and control was dominated by a ‘dialogue of the deaf’, where ‘members of both
camps appeared to be living in parallel words’, reducing the exercise to ‘ideological ping pong’. Let’s keep talking.