THERE have been three major drug raids in Heywood over the past month. As part of National Tackling Drugs Week, reporter Lisa Gray looks at the work being done across the town to crack down on the problem.
IT SEEMS that not a week goes by without reports of another life being destroyed by drugs.
As one of society’s most damaging issues refuses to go away, a partership of local organisations is tackling Heywood’s drug industry and help users turn their lives around.
The Adelaide Street Addiction Services Centre works to provide a lifeline to the town’s dependents. Supported by specialist addiction workers, GPs and nurses, drug users can access non-judgemental medical care, advice and counselling on substance misuse. The centre also offers new approaches to dependency treatment, including reiki, acupuncture, aromatherapy, and massage to help relieve withdrawal symptoms, as well as a needle exchange to encourage the safe disposal of needles.
Jeanette Staley, acting community safety manager at Rochdale Council, said: "Our priority is to make Heywood a safer place for people to live, work and visit. That means there is no place for drugs.
"We are committed to working with our partners to minimise the damage drugs do in our communities. We do this by providing high quality drug rehabilitation services and through tough enforcement action to tackle drug supply and drug-related crime."
Dr Michael Taylor, who works at the Adelaide Street clinic, added: "This is a unique facility. It is rare to find all these services in one place, but it makes it a lot easier for our patients.
"They can access all the help they need under one roof - we have doctors, nurses, mental health workers and service users all here together to help one another."
Tackling drugdealers is a major priority for the police. In April and May, officers recovered drugs worth more than £110,000 from homes across the town.
Heywood police chief, Inspector Darrell Butterworth, said: "The reclassification of cannabis from a Class C to a Class B drug has given us greater powers of arrest. Any adult now caught with cannabis will be prosecuted and those found cultivating or producing cannabis will be arrested, even if it is the first time they have been caught.
"There is a common misconception that cannabis is not as harmful or problematic as some of the harder drugs such as heroin or crack cocaine. Drugs or drug-related crime is something that we as a team and as a force take seriously. We will do everything in our power to eradicate this problem from our town."
The Adelaide Street centre offers to help ‘anybody and everybody’ requiring treatment, and will see patients even without an appointment.
If you need support for drug misuse, either as a user, parent, family member or friend, call the community drug outreach team on 01706 924883.
Monday
Lots of telephone calls today including a health visitor concerned about the safety of methadone in a home where there are small children, Social Services worried about the safety of a child and a hospital informing us that one of our patients had absconded due to the delay in him being prescribed methadone. These calls are typical day-to-day problems we face at Adelaide Street.
Tuesday
We had two full sessions for patients booked in for acupuncture, Electro Stimulation Therapy (EST) and various massage treatments. These treatments help with cravings, withdrawal symptoms, anxiety and depression, all of which many of our patients suffer from.
The needle exchange was especially busy with patients attending for clean ‘works’, which allows them to inject safely and avoid them contracting blood borne viruses such as Hepatitis B & C and HIV. There’s a steady increase in men injecting anabolic steroids, which promote muscle growth, and men and women who inject melatonin, which speeds up the tanning process of the skin when exposed to ultra violet light.
Wednesday
My role on a Wednesday is patient adviser. I see patients on a one-to-one basis, offer help and ongoing support and refer them into the appropriate services who can offer specialised treatment.
I saw someone who came in with both legs and feet extremely swollen and painful. He has a problem of drug and alcohol addiction and suffered seizures. I advised him to allow us to call an ambulance but the patient refused, and against our wishes, left. This was a low point in the day. There is not much we can do if a patient refuses treatment.
Another patient told me about his troublesome childhood and how he had been abused and ill-treated from an early age. This patient has many problems but has managed to stay clean from illicit drugs for over a year. With lots of ongoing support, we can offer this person professional help. It is a high point in the day when people, such as this person, are motivated and want our help.
Thursday
The first job of the day is to find someone a home. This person has been homeless for a considerable time and has been living rough in a derelict building. This person suffers with alcohol addiction.
After several calls I have managed to find him a bed in a ‘wet house’, which will allow him to continue to drink although he will be restricted on the quantity consumed. He was collected later that morning and taken to his new home. This was the highlight in the day as this person was so appreciative of our help and thrilled we had been able to find him a home.
Friday
Fridays are especially busy. Many people were collecting their prescriptions, some with queries about medication, others ordering repeat medication. Today someone attended who was in a violent relationship and had suffered domestic violence. Another person felt suicidal and had attempted suicide recently. A lady attended who suffers with mental health illness and who had struggled to attend surgery but felt she needed to see the doctor. Again, these are typical problems we are regularly faced with.
Our GP had an extremely full list of patients to see. Nobody is turned away. Everyone is seen which means that it is very often after 6pm before we close on a Friday.
Fact box
- For every £1 spent on drug treatment, at least £9.50 is saved in health and criminal justice costs
- Tens of thousands of young people are receiving drugs education, though school, the FRANK services and diversionary activities
- Drug-related crime is falling
- Waiting times for treatment are at the lowest ever
Showing comments 1 to 1 and replies | View All
C Chandler, Heywood (17/06/2009 at 10:56)
350,000 of Britains's 400,000 heroin and crack cocaine users get state hand-outs. Addicts get working age benefits including job seekers allowance, income support and incapacity benefit.