People use drugs to have a good time, or to stop having a bad time by killing their pain. We do not accept that either of these are a reason someone should face significant harm or death. Yet, across the country, nitazenes are claiming lives. As a homelessness charity, these drugs are one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced in years. Now is the time to act.
Among the people we support at The Wallich – who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness across Wales – we do not need any more reasons to be concerned. But this year’s grim drug death statistics, including a tragic 18.5% increase in Wales, along with the rapidly mounting number of lives lost to nitazenes, have provided some.
The Wallich has been grounded in harm reduction for many years, but with the threat of nitazenes looming on the horizon, we looked again at ourselves to ensure we were doing all we could to keep people safe. Here’s how we’re keeping vulnerable people safe from the risks of nitazenes.
We’ve provided regular communications updates on the situation to our staff, including several focusing on the threat of nitazenes increasingly being found in benzos. We asked all our staff, not just those on the frontlines, to carry naloxone. We’re keeping better track of substance use related information, giving guidance on how people can send samples off for testing, and providing better information for our service users.
The rise of synthetic opiates in the UK drugs market is one of the biggest challenges we have faced in many years, and again highlights the failings of the way we have done things for over 50 years. It is well past time that we had a proper, grown-up discussion on drugs and drug use in the UK, and how we should be following the growing global evidence of a better way to deal with both. We are strongly supportive of an approach to substance use as a public health issue, rather than simply a problem to be solved by the criminal justice system.
Drug use is prohibited in most temporary accommodation. This drives people to either flout the rules and risk losing their place, or to use drugs in a more dangerous setting, often alone, increasing an overdose risk. Staff face the challenge of working effectively while remaining within the law. So clear guidance is essential for the several high-tolerance residential services we provide.