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February 2014 |
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Cover story |
50 years of Blenheim
service users, commissioners and supporters. Speakers included minister for
crime prevention, Norman Baker, who acknowledged there was more to do in
tackling psychoactive substances and recognised the impact of alcohol use:
‘We will continue to challenge the alcohol industry to raise its game,’ he said.
Blenheim’s CEO John Jolly responded that Blenheim would ‘continue to act as a
critical friend’ to government.
Blenheim also chose this celebratory event to launch
London Calling: Voices
from 50 years of Social Action
, a book which not only tells the history of Blenheim
through the voices of those who have been involved since the sixties, but also
the story of the development of the drug and alcohol sector in the UK.
‘It’s the story of how, together, we built the best drug and alcohol treatment
system in the world, set within its historical and political context over the last 50
years,’ said Jolly. ‘It is a celebration of the commitment of the thousands of
people who have given their time, skills and energy to help those struggling with
drugs and alcohol problems over the past five decades.’
A constant over the 50 years has been Blenheim’s commitment to listening and
responding to service users. Tim Sampey, a former Blenheim service user and now
chief operating officer of Build on Belief (BoB), is also featured in
the book. BoB runs the largest peer-led weekend service in
London and is now an independent service user charity.
‘Without Blenheim’s willingness to support something
untried, without their courage to agree to our total independence
and without their patience to put up with our wild enthusiasm
and occasional unorthodox ideas, there would have been no
seven-day-a-week provision and no Build on Belief,’ said Sampey.
‘Blenheim has truly demonstrated what service user involvement
can and should be.’
Jo Palmieri is former director of business, innovation and
skills at Blenheim.
For more information about Blenheim’s services, to purchase a
copy of London Calling or to become a Friend of Blenheim go to
www.blenheimcdp.org.uk and www.blenheim50.wordpress.com.
Tim Sampey will be speaking at Make it Happen!, the
national service user involvement conference on 20 February –
visit www.drinkanddrugsnews.com for booking details.
lling
TIMELINE
1959
11 per cent of reported addicts are under 35 years of age.
1964
40 per cent of reported addicts are under 35 years of age.
The Blenheim Project is born.
1968
Drug Dependence Units (DDUs) are established to treat heroin
addiction.
‘In the whole of the UK in 1968 there were only 2,240 heroin addicts
known to the Home Office (under the informal notification scheme)
and 1,091 patients at drug clinics,’ says Gerry Stimson, emeritus
professor, Imperial College London. (The 2009-10 NTA report on drug
use prevalence estimated that in England there were 264,072 opiate
users, and 193,575 people were receiving treatment by their 2012-
13 drug treatment report.)
1970
Government funding to the voluntary sector is £2.5m, rising to
£35.4m by 1976. (That figure had increased to £11.8bn in 2010/11
according to a report by
Third Sector
magazine.)
1972
The number of cannabis users in the UK is estimated at 1m.
(Department of Health figures in 2009 estimated that to have
doubled, but the number has been in decline since then.)
1976
CDP becomes the last agency to close its injecting room. The
Blenheim Project’s open-door policy gives way to an appointment
system.
1977
The first Narcotics Anonymous (NA) group meeting is held in the UK.
1980
The growth of illegal drug use accelerates rapidly across the UK.
1982
Conservative secretary of state for social services, Norman Fowler,
announces the first funding initiative for drug services, the Central
Funding Initiative (CFI). Initially £6m is available, in short-term
grants.
1986
GPs now prescribe for 48 per cent of heroin users.
1989
There are now 323 dedicated drug services in England.
Drug users become ‘problem drug takers’ instead of ‘addicts’.
1991
Criminal Justice Act. Drug using offenders are sentenced to
community-based treatment orders for the first time.
1994
Blenheim opens the UK's first crack day programme.
1995
The government launches the white paper
Tackling drugs together
,
a new three-year drug strategy. Drug Action Teams (DATs) are
created in each health authority area.
1997
The first UK drugs czar is appointed by the government to
‘co-ordinate’ the ‘war on drugs’ strategy.
2002
Home secretary, David Blunkett announces the government's
intention to reclassify cannabis from class B to class C.
2004
The Cabinet Office publishes the
Alcohol harm reduction strategy
for England
.
2007
Safe, sensible and social. The next steps in the national alcohol
strategy
is launched.
2008
New government drugs strategy. New measures for ‘coercing’
drug using benefit claimants into treatment.
2012
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
publishes NICE guidelines and public health outcomes, with
recommendations for alcohol treatment services. Blenheim, CDP
and CASA merge.