Chaired by crime writer Peter James, the Commission has now considered the response by the city’s public agencies, including the police, probation service, the voluntary sector, the city council and NHS who collectively have responsibility for drug policy. 

Commission recommendations included a call for more training for people to be able to administer a life-saving overdose antidote; more integrated services for people who have mental health problems and drug addiction and for a separation between drug services for young people and adults so that younger users don’t have to mix with more established users.

Caroline said, "Drugs policy should be founded on the over-riding principle of reducing harm, both for users themselves and for wider society; any approach has to be led by the evidence about what works in practice.

"The Commission in its bold set of recommendations has helped to further embed evidence-based approaches to drugs policy, prevention and treatment and it is why I offer my sincere thanks to its members who have given their professional time over the last two years.   

"They have shown the way for future UK drugs policy – a rational non-alarmist policy where health, welfare, harm reduction and decisions based on evidence are deservedly the drivers in tackling drug addiction.

"Thank you to the city’s public agencies for their support and cooperation in this project and the professionalism of their staff who are making a life-saving difference on the front line.”

Full press release from the Independent Drugs Commission for Brighton & Hove below.

The Commission's final response [PDF 240KB].

13 May 2014

The Independent Drugs Commission for Brighton & Hove issues final conclusions

The Independent Drug Commission for Brighton & Hove is releasing its final conclusions at a public meeting this morning on drugs policy in Brighton & Hove.

The Commission, brought together by Brighton MP Caroline Lucas, and chaired by crime writer Peter James, has now considered the response by the city’s public agencies, including the police, probation service, the voluntary sector, the city council and NHS who collectively have responsibility for drug policy. 

In its 2013 report [PDF 253kb] the Commission made far-reaching recommendations on how to ensure services could better meet the needs of people using treatment services or who need support. 

The Commission has now reviewed the report issued by the public agencies in the light of the recommendations.  The partner agencies have adopted a number of key measures with the objective to reduce drug related deaths, share best practice and focus all agencies more effectively on end point of harm reduction and the recovery of an individual drug-user.

Commission recommendations included a call for more training for people to be able to administer a life-saving overdose antidote; more integrated services for people who have mental health problems and drug addiction and for a separation between drug services for young people and adults so that younger users don’t have to mix with more established users.

These recommendations have been accepted by the city drug agencies and are being implemented. Some examples of action by agencies as a result of the Commission’s recommendations include:

• Significant expansion of the treatment Naloxone to counter the effects of opioid overdose, and “First Aid for Overdose” training. The expanded programme (managed by St John’s Ambulance) covers service users, families, carers, hostels and the wider recovery community.
• Closer working between agencies on sharing information about drug use patterns through participating in a Home Office-led Forensic Early Warning System  to test substances seized by police that are not believed to be class A and then ensuring information is shared with partners.
• Pioneering work on reaching young people to educate on the dangers of drug and alcohol use. There is evidence of how improvements have been put in place in the process of identification and sharing of ‘real time’ information that is then taken directly to the population affected for example  school-based responses to concern about the promotion of the ‘Neknomination’ (high intensity drinking at dangerous levels) on social networking sites.

Mike Trace, Vice-Chair of the Commission and former national ‘drugs czar’, said, “The harm, suffering and loss of life caused by drug addiction is significant in the city. We believe our work and the response of all the agencies and contributors to our review will ensure that drug prevention and treatment services in Brighton & Hove will continue to improve.  On behalf of the Commission, I thank everyone involved for the co-operation, insights and support shown as we undertook our work.”  

Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion, said, “Drugs policy should be founded on the over-riding principle of reducing harm, both for users themselves and for wider society; any approach has to be led by the evidence about what works in practice. The Commission in its bold set of recommendations has helped to further embed evidence-based approaches to drugs policy, prevention and treatment and it is why I offer my sincere thanks to its members who have given their professional time over the last two years.   

“They have shown the way for future UK drugs policy – a rational non-alarmist policy where health, welfare, harm reduction and decisions based on evidence are deservedly the drivers in tackling drug addiction. Thank you to the city’s public agencies for their support and cooperation in this project and the professionalism of their staff who are making a life-saving difference on the frontline.”

One well-publicised recommendation was that public agencies should explore the feasibility of a drug consumption room: a safe space supervised by health professionals to minimise the risks of overdose, unsafe practices and contaminated drug-taking equipment. 

An expert working group was set up by Brighton & Hove City Council and partner agencies to examine the feasibility of a DCR in more detail. 

After a detailed investigation the working group concluded that a DCR was not an appropriate measure at this time, saying “....while the evidence suggests that a DCR could meet the needs of some local injecting drug users, at the present time the overall need of the local community, not just injecting drug users, is not considered to be sufficient by local organisations to agree to support establishing a DCR.”

In response the Commission Vice-Chair Mike Trace said, “Although, after careful consideration, the response by the working group was that the time is not right to pilot a drug consumption room in the city, we believe the detailed feasibility study undertaken will ensure a strong evidence-base to inform decision-making on whether a local DCR should be deployed in the future.”

The Commission's 2013 report was the culmination of a year long process of hearing evidence from experts, public agencies including the police, housing, the city council, public health and people who use services.
ENDS

Notes to editors

The Commission's final response [PDF 240KB].

Brighton & Hove shed its title of ‘Drugs Death Capital of the UK’ earlier this year, drug use in the city remains high.