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STARK STATISTICS
Hospital admissions for hepatitis C-related
end-stage liver disease rose to nearly 2,400 in
2012, up from just over 600 in 1998,
according to new figures from Public Health
England, with deaths rising from less than 100
to 428. The agency recently warned of a ‘liver
cancer time bomb’ if levels of hep C treatment
were not scaled up (
DDN
, July, page 5).
‘Despite the examples of good practice and
the availability of effective treatments, we must
accept that the rising hospital episodes and
deaths, the poor diagnosis rate and the
shockingly low level of treatment means we are
failing patients,’ said Hepatitis C Trust chief
executive Charles Gore.
Hepatitis C in the UK:
2014 report at www.gov.uk
BENZO BENCHMARKS
New guidance on benzodiazepines for primary
care professionals has been produced by
SMMGP. Written by Chris Ford and Fergus Law,
Guidance for the use and reduction of misuse
of benzodiazepines and other hypnotics and
anxiolytics in general practice
is available free
at
www.smmgp.org.uk
ORANGE UPDATES
Public Health England is consulting on whether
parts of the
2007 Drug misuse and
dependence: UK guidelines on clinical
management
– known as the ‘orange book’ –
should be updated in the light of the evolving
evidence base and changes in the sector such
as an ageing treatment population, fewer
people using heroin and increasing use of new
psychoactive and performance-enhancing
substances. ‘An update would build upon the
original version to reflect new evidence, issues
and ways of working, as well as developments
in the recovery orientation of drug treatment,’
says PHE.
Have your say at
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/drug-
misuse-and-dependence-uk-guidelines-on-clinical-
management until 30 September.
STRANGE MOLECULES
A new legal high information website has been
launched by CRI.
www.strangemolecules.org.uk
is aimed at young people, their families and
professionals, and named to ‘more accurately
reflect’ the nature of the drugs –‘unsafe
substances that can be even more dangerous
than their often illicit counterparts’, says CRI.
PRISON PRESUMPTIONS
A new report on the reasons behind the UK’s
large prison population has been published by
the British Academy.
A presumption against
imprisonment: social order and social values
looks at ‘why we seem unable to reduce our
reliance on imprisonment’ and includes
strategies for cutting the number of prisoners.
Available at www.britac.ac.uk
NEWS IN BRIEF
August 2014 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 5
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
News |
Round-up
Illegal drug use among secondary school pupils remains
significantly lower than a decade ago, according to new
figures from the government’s Health and Social Care
Information Centre (HSCIC).
Sixteen per cent of pupils had ever taken drugs, 11 per
cent had taken them in the last year and 6 per cent in the
last month, says
Smoking, drinking and drug use among
young people in England in 2013
, figures similar to 2011 and
2012 but ‘considerably lower’ than in 2001. Pupils were
more likely to have taken cannabis than any other drug.
Thirty-nine per cent had drunk alcohol at least once,
but only 9 per cent in the last week, continuing a
downward trend since 2003 when a quarter of pupils had
done so. Among those who had drunk in the last week, the
amount of units consumed was also lower than in
previous years. While more than half of pupils thought it
was acceptable for someone their age to try drinking and a
third thought it OK to try smoking, only 9 per cent thought
it was OK to try cannabis and 2 per cent cocaine. The
figures are based on a survey of more than 5,000 pupils in
almost 200 schools across England.
According to the
2012/13 Crime Survey for England and
Wales
, 8.2 per cent of adults had taken an illicit drug
(excluding mephedrone) in the last year, a fall from 8.9 per
cent in 2011/12. While the proportion of 16 to 24-year-
olds taking any drug in the last year was almost double
the proportion in the 16 to 59 age group – at 16.3 per cent
– it was still down on 19.3 per cent in 2011/12.
Meanwhile, a new Home Office report states that
declining heroin and crack use over the last decade –
particularly among young people – has gone hand-in-hand
with lower rates of acquisitive crime. ‘Studies agree that,
in aggregate, heroin/crack users commit a large number of
offences; large enough, this paper shows, to be an
important driver of overall crime trends,’ says
The heroin
epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s and its effect on crime
trends – then and now
.
While the number of heroin users increased
substantially during the 1980s and ’90s – and ‘many also
used crack as their drug-using career developed’ – the
national peak was probably between 1993 and 2000, says
the document, while crime also peaked between 1993 and
1995. Previously, the rise and fall in illicit drug use had not
been ‘especially prominent’ in the debate about crime
levels in the UK, however, ‘perhaps due to a lack of robust
data for the whole period’, it adds.
‘Studies disagree about whether it is illicit drug use
that causes the criminality,’ says the report. ‘This is
because a sizable proportion of heroin/crack users do not
resort to theft. And many were offending before taking
these drugs. However, evidence suggests that, for at least
some users, heroin/crack was the catalyst for offending,
and for others it probably accelerated and extended their
criminal career. Thus aggregate-level change in numbers of
heroin/crack users is likely to affect crime trends.’
See news focus, page 6
Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in
England in 2013 at www.hscic.gov.uk
The heroin epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s and its
effect on crime trends – then and now, and Drug misuse:
findings from the 2012/13 crime survey for England and
Wales at www.gov.uk
Young drug and alcohol
consumption continues to fall
YELLOW CARD!
A new resource
explaining how to handle a stop and search
by the police has been launched by Release.
Designed in partnership with young people,
the aim of the Y-Stop card is to boost
confidence and provide ‘tools for advice,
empowerment and reporting police
behaviour’. Tips offered include staying
calm, maintaining eye contact and asking
questions. ‘Treat it as a conversation, not a
confrontation,’ says the card. Available to
download at www.release.org.uk