Oy!! Copper!!

It seems that Britain's most enthusiastic police officer has been targeting the easy to arrest. Feted as the most active of all police officers, the cop concerned has been arresting people right, left and centre at more than twice the national average - about 4 arrests a day. But from national press reports and complaints from agencies on his beat, it sounds as if he's been going after the easy nick, turning up at homeless hostels and day centres to arrest people, even those who are in treatment for drug problems.

Now, nobody, least of all me is saying that the police shouldn't arrest any one who is breaking the law - but this has all the halmarks of police going after an easy target without thought for whether there might be different or better ways to deal with criminality, especially if it's a treatable drug problem. I'd be interested to know if his arrest rate (activity) is turning in to convictions (outcomes) and if his arrestees fare better than those in treatment as far as their criminal activity is concerned. I bet we won't be told though.

The needle and the damage done

Good grief, I feel like a rant about stuff today. It’s just one of those days. Despite some cracking good news about my agency developing a new service with a shed-load of new money (result!) and completing on a deal (another result!) I am in a slough of despond and minor blues.

Why should this be? We do good deeds in a naughty world, or at least we help those individual drug users whose lives are messed up, to find a way through some of their problems. We occasionally manage to influence policy in a good way so that our drug laws don’t descend in to complete madness. But it’s just not working for me today.

I think that sometimes, when you work in this field, one which, let’s be candid here, does involve unpleasantness, sometimes disease and even death coupled with some very stupid local and national politicking – well it can just get you down. It’s grind, grind, grind, occasional joyful success, grind, grind, grind…….. Same as everybody else I suppose.

Good things about working in the drugs field:

Watching some people get back on track.
Getting some new services up and running to do more of the same.
Working with terrific people.
Excellent comedy value.
Like the client group.
Ok, I have some, limited power.

Bad things:

Too much needless death and despair.
Too many idiots sounding off about drugs and drug users when they know so little and understand less.
Trying to balance the need to have a work ethos that’s fun and creative for staff whilst dealing with faceless government departments and overly cautious management.
Avoiding talking about my job outside work because like with supermarkets – everyone’s got a view.
Getting pathetically maudlin and self-pitying as a result.

So next up on this blog – an effort to lighten up.

There's a lot of it about

A LOT of drugs and alcohol stuff around here in the UK at the moment, here’s a summary.

Headline in my local free sheet – ‘Pubs quiet’. Could have said the same for pretty much the whole of the country as 24 hour opening came and went without the predicted riot.
Pete Doherty – no charges apparently (see my earlier post).
Kate Moss – did go to rehab (see my earlier post).
We need more syringe exchange capacity quick – many more people are injecting crack. It has short half life (length of time it stays active in the body) so if you want to stay up you need to inject more – so need more fresh kit. A government Healthcare Commission October 05 press release says that the number of IDU’s – injecting drug users – infected with HIV has risen from 1 in 100 to 1 in 65. This is very scary.
Cannabis drives you mad – yes or no? Amidst calls for its re-classification – again and upgrading to Class B, we await the deliberations of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. I think:

a) Some cannabis around is genetically modified and much, much stronger than ordinary herbal puff. Any refined drug is more powerful than its herbal equivalent e.g. skunk v herb, heroin v opium, coca leaf v cocaine, so the risks are greater.
b) People with an underlying mental health problem or a pre-existing mental illness risk acute onset of the illness if they use cannabis or any other mind-altering substance.
c) Cannabis is not a drug for the sensitive. Any drug which makes your friend’s teeth hilarious will also exacerbate bad feelings too. So taking it when you’re upset or unhappy will probably result in more unhappiness.
d) Conversely there is anecdotal evidence that some people with mental health problems get some relief from cannabis – but I haven’t seen any literature to support this so my advice is still to keep away from it if you have a mental health problem.
e) Between 2m and 5m people are thought to be active cannabis users in Britain today. The mental health services are not over-run with these people coming down with psychotic episodes. Which does suggest that a causal link i.e. smoking dope makes you mad is not likely except under the above circumstances – see a, b, and c above.
f) There are as yet no reports of people taking the drug for conditions such as MS or other medical reasons are suffering a greater incidence of psychosis. Just goes to show that the set and setting of drug use remains important.You never see members of our esteemed media coughing up to regular, recreational drug use – but they can’t wait to blow the gaff on every one else.