Scottish Drugs Forum

The Scottish Government have published a draft version of the new, combined drugs and alcohol strategy document ‘All Together Now: Our strategy to address the harms of alcohol and drugs in Scotland.’
The Government are seeking feedback from partners and stakeholders in the sector by Friday the 5th of October.
Scottish Drugs Forum will consult with our members again in due course on the appropriate response.

Police in custody suites in County Durham and Darlington will be able to administer naloxone to people who are experiencing an opiate overdose from later this year under new plans.
Naloxone is the emergency antidote for overdoses caused by heroin and other opiates such as methadone, morphine and fentanyl. Currently, people employed or engaged in the provision of drug treatment services can, as part of their role, supply naloxone as long as it is supplied for the purpose of being available to save life in emergencies.
If the plan goes ahead, Durham will be one of the first police forces in the country to introduce it into custody suites. Officers are being trained to enable its introduction later this year, and the guidelines for when naloxone should be used are currently being finalised.

"We can prevent drug-related deaths in Scotland"
You can support #StopTheDeaths by sharing a picture of yourself or your colleagues with the #StopTheDeaths logo and tag @SDFnews
Get involved via the SDF website.
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Registrations are being taken for Recovery Walk Scotland 2018, which will take place this year in Glasgow on Saturday the 15th of September.
The event is the largest in Scotland that celebrates recovery from substance use and has been held every year since 2013. For the first time in Scotland, the recovery from substance use movement and the mental health recovery movement will hold a joint recovery walk.
This year, the event is comprised of three parts: Roses in the River Memorial at Glasgow Green, Recovery Walk Scotland procession through the city centre and a Recovery Festival and Village on the green.

All frontline police officers in England should be equipped with naloxone to reverse the effects of an opiate overdose.
Hardyal Dhindsa, the police and crime commissioner for Derbyshire, has said officers should routinely carry supplies of the overdose reversal medication, which can buy extra time until medical assistance arrives.
Mr Dhindsa, who is the national lead on substance misuse for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, said:
... "We should be doing everything we can to make sure we don’t get to the stage where people are suffering overdoses, but we also need to make sure that the first person who finds them is able to administer that emergency response which can save their life.
"Police officers have always been on the frontline of public crises, and policy makers need to make sure they have the tools to protect the public."
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Have you tried our new, free e-learning course on recognising and reversing an opiate overdose we released on International Overdose Awareness Day yet?
Kirsten Horsburgh, Scottish Drug Forum’s Strategy Coordinator for Drug Death Prevention, who helped develop the content of the course, said: “Scotland has witnessed a huge increase in drug-related deaths over the past decade, with record numbers of deaths recorded for the past three consecutive years. 934 people lost their liv...es to preventable overdoses in 2017.
“It is a national tragedy that requires a national response and everyone needs to be able to play their part. This free to access e-learning course is a step towards increasing the knowledge base of the workforce and general public in understanding the current drug death crisis and what can be done to recognise and reverse an opiate overdose.”
Various audiences will benefit from the e-learning, including; people who come into contact with people who use drugs, GPs, nurses, teachers, police, housing workers, social workers and mental health workers and the general public.
Sign up for FREE now!
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New dates have been added to our popular drug and alcohol training courses that have been developed specifically for people who work within Glasgow city!
The courses increase staff knowledge and awareness of key issues relating to drug or alcohol use and are available for free to people who work in Glasgow in settings such as health, education, policing, social care and voluntary organisation staff who work in non-addictions services.
The courses have been designed to offer f...lexible learning to suit a range of staff and consist of either two half-day courses and two full-day courses, which provide an opportunity to understand further the specific support needs and the range of services available for those experiencing drug or alcohol-related problems.
Further details on each course, including learning outcomes and dates can be found in the attached link.
Alcohol Awareness Training (Half Day) – 20th of September 2018 – SDF Office, Glasgow
Alcohol Awareness Training (Full Day) – 31st of August 2018 – SDF Office, Glasgow – 14th September 2018 – SDF Office, Glasgow – 27th of September 2018 – SDF Office, Glasgow
Drug Awareness Training (Half Day) – 6th September 2018, Glasgow School of Art Residences, Glasgow – 20th of September 2018, SDF Offices, Glasgow
Drug Awareness Training (Full Day) – 7th of September 2018, SDF Offices, Glasgow – 25th of September 2018, SDF Offices, Glasgow
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Today is International Overdose Awareness Day - a day to remember those who have sadly passed away from a drug-related death - and to mark the day we have launched a new, free to access e-learning resource, which is dedicated to raising knowledge and awareness of opiate overdoses.
The course, ‘Overdose Prevention, Intervention and Naloxone’, gives participants the opportunity to analyse key aspects of drug-related deaths in Scotland, learn how to prevent an opiate overdose an...d explains what to do in the case of witnessing an opiate overdose.
The concise course can be completed in around an hour, or alternatively be completed in separate sittings to provide a fully flexible learning experience.
Various audiences will benefit from the e-learning, including; people who come into contact with people who use drugs, GPs, nurses, teachers, police, housing workers, social workers and mental health workers and the general public.
Sign up for FREE now!
#StopTheDeaths #IOAD18
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'We can't turn our back on people with a drug problem and must get a grip on Scotland's drug crisis'
The Daily Record has stated in an editorial piece that it believes a public health emergency should be called for to deal with the rising toll of drug-related deaths in Scotland.
"Drug abuse cannot be left in the shadows so we can take action on the plague which sees our country top Europe's death rate league."
... Click for more info.
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The Herald has stated in an editorial piece that 'Drug deaths should be seen as a public health emergency'.
"Hundreds of millions of pounds has been thrown at the problem, but the number of drug-related deaths still rises. Radical change is needed and the SDF has also rightly called for a review of services and a new target of zero fatalities to be set in the new strategy."
Click for more info.

Today we launch #StopTheDeaths - a call for a national focus on drug-related deaths in Scotland.
For each of the last three years, Scotland has suffered record numbers of drugs overdose deaths. Each of these tragic deaths impacts on individuals, families, communities and the nation. This cannot be accepted or allowed to become a ‘new normal’.
Drug overdose deaths are preventable. We know how to prevent these deaths and yet they still happen.
... Scottish Drugs Forum has launched #StopTheDeaths to raise awareness of the rising toll of drug overdose deaths in Scotland and focus efforts to prevent these tragedies.
Scotland needs to prioritise this issue and take actions evidenced to prevent deaths. These actions involve all stakeholders – people who use drugs, their families and communities as well as services and policymakers. The problem and the solutions belong to us all.
The good news is that drug deaths are being prevented every day in Scotland. But despite all our efforts and successes, there are still many tragic and preventable deaths.
Help us spread the #StopTheDeaths message – drug deaths are not inevitable – we can prevent drug deaths.
Get involved by adding a logo to your profile picture, sending us a picture with the #StopTheDeathsLogo or a short video explaining what you can do to prevent drug deaths.
More info on the link.
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Members of the Dundee Drug Commission say they are “very disappointed” after a Chair of Dundee Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) resigns without giving evidence.
Dr Drew Walker, who has served as the Chair for years, cited “competing work priorities” in his decision to step down.
The commission, set up to tackle the city’s rising drug deaths toll, held its fourth meeting on Wednesday. It had repeatedly asked Dr Walker, who remains Director of Public Health at NHS Tayside, t...o give evidence.
Dr Drew Walker said he will not be able to give evidence to the commission now or “in the near future”
Other representatives of the ADP, which combines key city organisations tackling alcohol and drug misuse, instead gave evidence at the latest meeting.
Councillor Kevin Keenan, leader of the Dundee Labour Group and member of the commission, said despite the resignation, he still expects Dr Walker to meet with the group.
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There are still spaces left on our free one day training course on preventing drug-related deaths due to take place in Forth Valley on Monday the 3rd of September.
The course 'Staying Alive in Scotland' will explore the reasons why drug related deaths occur, highlight recent research on protective factors including engaging in treatment and discuss how workers can support people to access and stay in treatment.
The course is aimed primarily at frontline staff and managers of ...frontline services, however it is also relevant to services which support people who use substances, such as housing and homelessness services.
Click for more info and how to register.
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In an article in the Sunday Herald, SDF stated that a “public health emergency” should be called for to deal with the rising number of drug related deaths.
SDF will hold a conference on Thursday entitled 'Working Together To Prevent Drug-Related Deaths', which aims to offer solutions to the crisis. It is being held the day before International Overdose Awareness Day.
Kirsten Horsburgh, SDF strategy co-ordinator for drug death prevention, said: “We need to see the number of dr...ug-related deaths in Scotland as a public health emergency. If we were talking about almost 1,000 people dying of other preventable causes every year, there would be an outcry and there would be a full systems approach to address the issue. This is everybody’s business and it needs everybody’s attention. It’s a national travesty.”
Horsburgh said people with an opiate problem should be fast-tracked on to methadone. “At the moment we have waiting times,” she explained. “We need hub-based services where people can just drop in and receive opiate-replacement therapy the minute they walk in the door, without the mandatory conditions attached to that. So, if somebody isn’t ready to do motivational work, they should still be able to access prescribing without those conditions.”
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In an article in the Sunday Herald, SDF stated that a “public health emergency” should be called for to deal with the rising number of drug related deaths.
Scotland now has the highest death rate in Europe, with 934 fatalities recorded in 2017, and SDF's CEO, David Liddell, has revealed that number is likely to be over 1,000 in 2018.
As a result, the Scottish Government have been urged to set a target of zero preventable drugs-related deaths when politicians finally unveil a... long-awaited national drugs strategy later this year.
David said: “The situation around the country this year so far is actually even worse than 2017. We’re in an absolute crisis, in terms of the numbers of people dying. It’s sadly taken this level of deaths for people really to start to take notice of the issue.
“We shouldn’t be writing people off. The new strategy must send that message, particularly in the case of overdose deaths, they are all essentially preventable.
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Our Annual Review for 2017-18 has been published and is available to view online!
The review includes SDF’s Chair and CEO reports, highlights of the past year from a variety of SDF work streams, as well as a focus on the national aspect of the work carried out.
The document explores our work in peer involvement, the Addiction Worker Training Project (AWTP), responses to bacterial and viral infection, the National Naloxone Programme, sexual and reproductive health, workforce d...evelopment and much more.
SDF thank our staff, volunteers and Board for their hard work and commitment, as well as thank our funders for their contributions, and all the partners we have been fortunate enough to work with over the past year.
We hope you enjoy reading it.
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Scottish Drugs Forum is saddened to learn of the death of Dan Bigg, harm reduction pioneer and activist and founder of the Chicago Recovery Alliance, USA, who died on Tuesday 22nd of August at the age of 59.
He pioneered the idea of distributing naloxone, previously mainly used in clinical setting and by ambulance first responders, into the hands of people who at risk of opiate overdose and their friends and family. He achieved this through peer supply.
SDF’s first encounter ...with Dan took place on a multi-agency fact-finding trip to America in 2006, which aimed to witness firsthand the practice and impact of naloxone distribution by the Chicago Recovery Alliance.
It was from this trip that the wheels were put in motion towards implementing Scotland’s National Naloxone Programme in 2010, a world first national lifesaving initiative introduced in response to rising numbers of opioid-related deaths.
SDF kept in touch with Dan over the following years and we were delighted to have him over to present on his experiences at our 2014 conference on drug-related deaths “One is too many” where he provided an insight into his career working in the substance use field in America.
Our wishes are with his friends and family.
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I'm doing the peer supporter Naloxone training in Forth Valley and thourghly enjoying it..Thank You

Had a fabulous day today with your very kind selves. You made me feel so welcome and fed me extremely well (food was awesome!). So very grateful and privileged to celebrate international women's day with such a great bunch of girls. Looking forward to the next one!