NHS DERELICTION OF DUTY...

...TO GIVE ADDICTED YOUNGSTERS CHANCE OF DRUG FREE LIFE

There is urgent need for residential treatment for young, under 18, addicts. They are unlikely to get better in the environment in which they grew up and which fed their problems. Mike Trace of the Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners trust revealed the shocking statistic of only 20 residential rehab beds in the UK for teenagers. Sadly the NHS response was one of denial...

“The brutal truth is that the state is sanctioning starting under 18-year olds on methadone prescriptions with the implicit expectation that they will inexorably move into adult drug treatment services and substitute methadone prescribing,” writes Kathy Gyngell of the Centre for Policy Studies. “This is a counsel of despair and makes the need to think beyond chemical therapy and harm minimisation for damaged and neglected adolescents an urgent one. Trace’s call for constructive early residential treatment must not go unheeded.”

Read her blog here.

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Comments

[Debra Bell]

Well done on Kathy's latest blog - really interesting information about what the lack of what is available for youngsters and families. It echoes my own conclusions this week. Teenage drug abuse and its consequences for mental health is affecting millions, I'm convinced.
Since the feature on Talking About Cannabis in 'You' magazine, we had 2000 hits on the website in a matter of hours on the day it was published, and another 1000 by the end of the week. Hundreds of emails too, and calls from frantic parents who don't know where to turn as they watch their teenagers turn into desperate, violent beings.
I was shocked by the number who are attacking their parents, and turning to crime, in the age group 13-16.
Parents want to help their kids stop, and often the kids do too, but there is no help for them. The stress on families is enormous.
Either Nutt is just not listening or, worse, really does not care is my conclusion. Why would anyone in their right mind want to repeat the disaster that happened after downgrading of cannabis by downgrading another popular teenage drug?
Who does he think he is speaking for in bringing this possibility about? Certainly not the families.
Many parents have said to me that they are concerned not just for themselves but by the fact that 'this is the next generation we're talking about here. What does the future hold for us as a country as we lose a generation to the misery of drugs being seen as 'normal''

[mark ashby]

This is just a part of an article I wrote in May 2008-

According to official figures, the number of children between the ages of nine and
15 sent for drug treatment in the UK went up by a fifth last year (2007), to more than
9,000. Experts in the field believe that this does not tell the whole story, that many
suffer in silence and many refuse to accept they have a problem. A large majority
were ordered into treatment by the courts after their drug related crimes.
According to an independent report of 925 children and young people using the childrens charity
Kidscos services, 85 per cent arrived with problematic substance misuse issues
and 90 per cent of these perceived that their families were instrumental in
getting them on drugs. There are stories of the kids being used as couriers and
dealers – and even being given methadone and cannabis as toddlers to make
them more manageable. Fifty-seven per cent arrive homeless, and 85 per cent
have identifiable mental health issues.
In working with young people and their substance abuse problems, Kids company
often pays for rehab placements for them. The lack of coherent and appropriate
services for young people is gapingly obvious in this country – there are only
about three units specifically designed for the younger client, whereas in the
States you can barely move for adolescent rehabilitation units.
There is now robust evidence that the earlier a young person starts, the greater
the chance that they will develop a full blown adult addiction problem. Time and
time again the links are shown between drugs and problems at school, family
disintegration and criminal activity. For those in their late teens and early twenties,
it’s been shown that there are links between drugs, unemployment, homelessness
and prostitution. Much of this would be apparent from the Kidsco files.
Kidsco supports young people up to the age of 23, and finds it an anomaly
that youngsters at this age are treated as adults – especially in the treatment
field. These vulnerable kids have had to mix with hardcore alcoholics and addicts
up to the age of 65 – where we all know that the problems in these different age
groups are much different. One of the Kidsco workers mentioned that in these
units there was little (if any) nurturing involved, and that they often added the
problem of an active, ongoing drug culture. There are strong feelings about the
need for therapy centres specifically for this client group. Some may say the horse
has already bolted, but something does need to be done before we have yet
another generation of ‘hard core’ substance misusers and the cycle continues.

[adolescent addiction treatment]

Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime, most if not all of which can be applied to the causes of youth crime.

-mj-

[davidriched]

The people are loosing their moral while becoming modern. The society needs to be attentive that moral value.Every dark night is followed by a bright sunny day. So, patience and attention is required and things will be fruitful in near future.
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