WELCOME
Welcome to the charity's 'online newspaper'. Capture the groundswell of grassroots recovery caught on camera at the UK/European symposium on Addictive Disorders - and join in September's recovery rally. Deirdre Boyd, editor
View sample pages from Addiction Today journal - just click on image to right. _____________________________________________ THE FIRST UK RECOVERY RALLY HAS TAKEN PLACE! Almost 1,000 people lined the streets of Liverpool to celebrate recovery publicly for the first time in the UK. "This is no longer about the problems of addiction - itis about the solutions, and these people prove that." Read today/Comment.
To view sample pages from an earlier issue, click here.
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DISCRIMINATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS CHALLENGE TO DoH AND DWP
The All Party Parliamentary group on involuntary tranquilliser addiction has submitted a groundbreaking report to the Equalities & Human Rights Commission so that patients can be treated for addiction to legal drugs. Read today/Comment.
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Has woeful implementation of government drug policy or quicksanded the UK into the worst drug problem in Europe? Read today/Comment.
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THE PHONEY WAR ON DRUGS
Despite this government spending £10billion – £1.5billion a year – on its drugs policy, the numbers emerging from government treatment programmes are the same as if there had been no treatment at all, revealed Kathy Gyngell in a recent document from the apolitical Centre for Policy Studies. Read today/Comment.
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UNIQUE REHAB FOR CHILDREN FACES CLOSURE
Open letter from Middlegate chairman Chris Robertson. Read today/comment.
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TECHNIQUE OF THE WEEK _____________________________________________ Water off a duck's back! Help clients to deal with verbal provocation and potential relapse triggers. Read part 1 and part 2 today/comment.
RESIDENTIAL REHABILITATION: GOVERNMENT REVIEW
The government’s Commission for Social Care Inspection and the NTA carried out a review of treatment services last year – inspector David Finney reveals findings that “residential rehabs outstrip other sectors in every outcome group we measure”.____________________________________________
REHABS CLOSING - LATEST COUNT Despite glowing government reviews, UK rehabilitative treatment centres are closing at a rapid rate. Closed rehab services include: Parliamentary Answers confirm that only 2% of patients seeking help from the statutory sector via the National Treatment Agency are referred to rehab. Addiction Today continues its campaign for better, fairer and more access to effective treatment. _____________________________________________ CHILDREN'S DRUG USE
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The National Treatment Agency published a staggering figure of almost 25,000 young people whose lives are so damaged they seek treatment for drugs and alcohol problems. Drug use is way higher than the European average, yet there is only one dedicated residential centre. Read more/Comment.
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Click here for the report on problems arising from overuse of legal drugs.
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RESEARCH ON REHAB SUCCESS
Click here for large-scale empirical research.
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BROADCASTING TO BUILD RECOVERY
Two new recovery resources - the Afflicted and Affected online shows for addiction experts, and Soberfulldog blogs for people in recovery - have arrived to help professionals, people in recovery and members of the general public who want to know more. Watchtoday|Comment.
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SURVEY: DOCTORS SPEAK OUT
A survey commissioned by Addiction Today of all doctors in private practice across the UK makes heartbreaking reading when it comes to treating people with alcohol and drug problems. Of the first 114 doctors who responded:
- 96.5% are currently treating patients with alcohol problems
- 90.4% have seen patients die from alcohol problems
- 88.6% see these patients presenting with co-occurring mental issues
- 72.8% treat heavy-drinking patients who also present with tobacco-related problems
- 83.3% see patients with illicit-drug problems.
The full results were in the September 2008 issue of Addiction Today journal.
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Click here for details of our 'sister' symposium on Cape Cod.
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CATCH UP ON THE 10-YEAR DRUG STRATEGY TO 2018
Drugs: Protecting families and communities underscores that: "The goal of all treatment is for drug users to achieve abstinence from their drug – or drugs – of dependency." Read today/Comment.
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ADDICTED CELEBRITIES NEED HELP NOT MOCKERY
Click on the screen below to watch the excellent CBS show featuring Craig Ferguson on recovery – almost 1 million people have.
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THE GUIDE TO REHAB - WHAT REALLY WORKS
20 research facts everyone should know about rehab treatment for alcohol and drugs dependency
In late 1999, Dr David Best (who was working with the National Addiction Centre), Addiction Today editor Deirdre Boyd and the then-CEO of EATA met to initiate an easy-to-use reference document about addiction treatment which could be used by professionals and general public, and which not only covered the key issues but were based on incontrovertible research addressing those issues. EATA requested Addiction Today to publish in full the key research findings - a decade later, we republish the facts. They have not dated. Read today/Comment.
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