National Assembly for Wales / Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru
Health and Social Care Committee / Y Pwyllgor Iechyd a Gofal Cymdeithasol

Inquiry into alcohol and substance misuse / Ymchwiliad i gamddefnyddio alcohol a sylweddau

Evidence from Nacro, the crime reduction charity – ASM(Q) 21 / Tystiolaeth gan Nacro, yr elusen gostwng troseddu – ASM(Q) 21

Inquiry into alcohol and substance misuse

Survey Consultation Response

Organisation/Respondent: Sammy Davies, NACRO

Questionnaire

01. Which client group(s) do you work with? (For example, under 18s, older persons, homeless, or female only)

16 – 60 year old’s.

02. What are the main reasons why your clients take drugs or drink excessively?  Please tick all that apply.

If you work with more than one client group or you feel that there are other reasons as to why your clients take drugs or drink excessively, please comment in the box below.

§ A way to deal with stress;

§ Client(s) already substance reliant;

§ Mental Health;

§ Relieve social anxiety;

§ Environmental factors (for example – excessive drinking and/or drugs normalised in the home/community)

§ Relationship problems;

§ Self-medication;

§ Escapism.

Comments

Family breakdown, loneliness – comfort when they have nothing else – blocks everything else out. A way of life all they have and have been brought up around.

03. Are there certain groups of people who are more likely to be affected by drugs and excessive drinking? If so, which groups might they be?

It is not a question of age - substance misuse is down to many different factors! You may have a 20 year old who has a good job and at a weekend uses a substance such as coke recreationally and excessively but still manages to keep a normal lifestyle or you may have a 40 year old which has nothing living on the breadline where all they have known there whole life is abuse, neglect, poverty and have stolen to live and stolen to feed an addiction! You cannot pin point and age or age group towards drug taking. For some it’s a personal choice to do so and enjoy it others it is forced upon them through other means and loose there way because of the influences around them.

04. Does a particular stage of your clients’ lives influence their likelihood of taking drugs or drinking excessively? If so, what stage might that be? (i.e. age, relationship breakdown, unemployment etc.)

Again this cannot be pin pointed exactly!

One might lose it before Christmas as they are on their own and they are anxious about sorting there script out over the Christmas period! Another may not have any triggers it just might be a bad day and they wake up in that mind-set. Substance abuse is a personal thing which effects everybody differently through choice or sometimes no choice if they are addicted and not under the help of professionals and they need it to survive because if they try and reduce themselves it can be highly dangerous. A running trend is when people are younger and what is learned in these pivotal years and the influences they are around family or no family environment, but another could not have touched anything there whole life then there marriage breaks down and lose everything and turn to drugs or alcohol.

05. What barriers exist for your client(s) when trying to access support and services?

§ Addiction - won’t get seen if they are under the influence for example they cannot get a mental health examination until they are under a true light or frame of mind - which makes sense but at the same time the person still needs help at that time to alleviate dangerous circumstances;

§ Money;

§ Employment;

§ Themselves;

§ Transport;

§ Area.

06. What barriers exist for services when trying to access support for client(s)?

§ Transport;

§ Contact;

§ Communication between other agencies if a client has more than one port of support.

07. What do you consider to be barriers for staff and frontline services in working with your client group(s), or substance misuse generally?

§ Communication between all the agencies who are under the same umbrella to help such individuals - we should be working together not against each other;

§ Access to funding to better services;

§ Barriers from the government with policies such as the bedroom tax and single occupancy - you don’t receive full housing benefit until the age of 35!

§ Personal independent payments - back payment of say £2'000.00 been given to a vulnerable client all at once who is an ex heroin addict - gives that temptation.

08. Where do you think efforts should be targeted to address the issue of alcohol and substance misuse in Wales?

§ Poverty;

§ Homelessness;

§ Better mental health provision;

§ Prevention rather than cure – information.

09. In which local authority area do you work? If you work outside of Wales, please write your local authority area below.

Conwy.

Contact Details

Sammy Davies

NACRO

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