April 2013 saw the National Treatment Agency (NTA) becoming part of Public Health England, this transition firmly places substance abuse and addiction as a major public health issue: between 2011 and 2012 it was estimated that 8.9% of adults used an illegal drug. For young people, aged between 16-24 this was 19.3%.
These statistics show that this is indeed an issue which needs addressing, not only in preventing more young people becoming drug users but also in helping those existing users move away from drug dependence and into recovery.
The government have set out 5 areas of action:
1. Preventing young people from becoming drug misusers
2. Helping people recover from drug dependence
3. Helping offenders who misuse drugs get treatment
4. Providing information on what works best
5. Restricting the supply of illegal drugs
All these approaches will require dual focusses on prevention and intervention. It will require all those working to reduce misuse and dependency to look at causes and effects of misuse and design services to tackle both.
With these issues in mind Policy Knowledge is pleased to present our 2nd annual Reducing Substance Misuse policy briefing. This informative one day briefing is going to provide all attendees with the opportunity to examine and explore the latest policy and thinking around effective interventions and prevention to tackle misuse and drug related harm.
Speaker:
Vivienne Evans OBE - Chief Executive, Adfam and Chair, Substance Misuse Skills Consortium
Vivienne Evans’s career began in health promotion in the NHS, and moved into substance misuse prevention policy in the charity sector. Before taking up her role as Chief Executive of Adfam, she was Head of Programme Development at DrugScope, leading on education and prevention work in a partnership project with Alcohol Concern.
She is a former member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) and chaired its working group on the implementation of Hidden Harm. She is currently the chair of the advisory committee for the Family Drug and Alcohol Court project, and the chair of the Skills Consortium – an independent body set up to maximise the potential of the substance misuse sector workforce.
Vivienne was awarded the OBE in 2008 for her contribution to substance misuse prevention and families work.