Issue - meetings

The Board received a report that provided an overview of initiatives and developments undertaken by the Drug and Alcohol Partnership Board.

Free Phone Helpline

It was noted that pilot had been commissioned for a free phone helpline that would run between 23 June 2008 and 31 March 2009. This had been commissioned in order to  provide a central advice and information/referral service for people wanting to access drug and alcohol treatment. An advertising campaign would publicise the helpline, which would include adverts at Wood Green tube station and on buses running on routes in the Borough.

Cannabis Awareness Campaign

This would run from 23 June to 17 August and would be publicised in the same way as the helpline and an evaluation would be made in the autumn. At present the Borough had a higher than average number of people with cannabis related problems and it was hoped that the campaign would raise awareness of this issue.

Street Outreach Plan

In order to increase the numbers of people accessing drug treatment and to provide a comprehensive street outreach programme, it was hoped that the street outreach service would be extended to five nights per week.

A purpose designed vehicle had been purchased that would be used to offer more services to clients. This had been financed using money received from Haringey HPCT.  

Carers Pilot

A pilot support group run during 2006/07 had shown that carers wanted personal support to assist them in their role. To address this a counselling service specifically for carers had been commissioned for 2008/09.

The Board discussed the initiatives set out and there agreement that raising awareness around cannabis, particularly amongst young people, was a key priority. Concern was raised that the campaign had only been funded due to under spend in other areas. It was suggested that this type of campaign should be prioritised as a preventative measure. 

It was noted that the national Drug Strategy placed priority on addressing misuse of Class A drugs, which meant that identifying funding for initiatives around non Class A drugs was difficult. It was hoped that if the pilot was successful funding in future years could be validated.  

The Chair noted that the reclassification of cannabis had added to the confusion around the drug and welcomed the proposed initiative as a means of addressing this.

RESOLVED:

That the report and timetable for the implementation of the projects be noted.