Revolutionary help for addicts

7:49am Friday 13th April 2007

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ON a Wednesday afternoon in a hall in Trowbridge a small group of people are learning how to administer a life saving drug.

Naloxone is an antidote to opiates and can reverse the effects of a heroin overdose and buy 20 precious minutes before the emergency services arrive.

Wiltshire has become the first place in England to pilot the treatment and substance users who visit a new drop in centre, run by Wiltshire Users Forum and held in the Alabare Christian Care Centre, in Duke Street, Trowbridge, are some of the first to find out more about the antidote.

Mick Webb, of the Wiltshire Drug and Alcohol Action Team, said: "The reason we picked it up is because of our involvement with service users. Every single service user who cares for a drug user wants this.

"We have to accept people take drugs and look at how we can reduce harm. We can't get any message of hope of recovery to a substance user if they are dead."

Naloxone works by reversing the effect of opiates and can be administered by a member of the public if they have received appropriate training.

Mr Webb said it was unlikely drug users would be tempted to take bigger hits because they thought they could fall back on Naloxone if they overdosed.

"The evidence at the trials carried out in Maudsley showed that never happened," he said.

"They didn't use Naloxone as an excuse for a big hit. One reason is it sends them into withdrawal.

In 2003 there were 536 deaths in the UK related to heroin and morphine and despite a Government bid to reduce this by 20 per cent by 2004, this target was not met anywhere except Glasgow, where Naloxone has already been piloted.

The antidote is also widely used in Chicago, USA.

Wiltshire Users Forum chairman Arron Gibbings said: "We are aiming it at the most chaotic people who are out on the streets.

"If we can encourage them to come in for a little bit of basic training on how it works we can engage them so they can see what other treatments are available."

As well as piloting Naloxone training, the weekly drop-in centres in Trowbridge offer a wealth of other information, training and advice to users.

There is the chance for training and the opportunity to build up confidence and gain certificates, which could eventually lead to employment.

People can drop in to use computers, bid for housing, learn about therapies including acupuncture and talk to their peers about their experiences whatever stage of treatment they are at.

The forum was set up under an initiative of the National Treatments Agency and its organisers are mainly former addicts who are able to share their experiences.

Mr Gibbings, 30, was addicted to drugs and alcohol for 19 years before finally getting clean last July following a DTTO (Drug Treatment and Testing Order), issued by the courts.

"It woke me up to change when I entered a structured day care programme," he said.

"I had put so much effort into taking drugs that I didn't know what to do when I got clean.

"Then Mick Webb spoke about the forum and I thought there's something I can put my effort into and put something back into something where I understand where people are coming from."

The forum is also behind the Wiltshire Rural Support Groups, which are run in Trowbridge and Chippenham by Andrew Davidson.

They are mainly geared towards those with alcohol addictions but are not run like fellowships, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and are more about peer support than following 12-step programmes.

"There is a serious problem in Wiltshire. Seven out of 10 people with addictions are addicted to alcohol yet services and referrals are abysmal and it takes longer to get into treatments," said Mr Davidson.

"We provide a safe environment to explore what's going on with their addiction."

The groups run in Bridge House, Trowbridge, on Monday nights and Tuesday nights in The Salvation Army Hall, in Chippenham.