The team provide case management to ensure good quality multi agency working. For instance, robust links with the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service(CAMHS) deliver better outcomes for young people where substance misuse and mental health issues are both present.
The team provide case management to ensure good quality multi agency working. For instance, robust links with the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service(CAMHS) deliver better outcomes for young people where substance misuse and mental health issues are both present.
Covering a large geographical area the team use a Health Inclusion bus which enables them to reach young people in their communities
The team provide case management to ensure good quality multi agency working. For instance, robust links with the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service(CAMHS) deliver better outcomes for young people where substance misuse and mental health issues are both present.
Covering a large geographical area the team use a Health Inclusion bus which enables them to reach young people in their communities
Offers intense targeted interventions for young people at risk of criminal/sexual exploitation.
Working with schools and 6th form colleges. Listening and talking to young people on areas such as the risks, spotting the signs, what to do if they have concerns about a friend, harm reduction and how to access further help.
A therapeutic program designed to help parents who are experiencing high levels of stress due to issues including substance misuse when raising their children.
Individual
Using drugs from a young age, Marie was in the care system by the time she was thirteen
Individual
After an unhappy childhood and fleeing an abusive relationship, Nicola turned to prostitution 17 years ago to support her young children. To block out the guilt and shame she felt about her chosen profession, she turned to drink and drugs and soon became addicted to heroin.
Alcoholic drinks, such as beer, wine and spirits
Alcohol is a depressant meaning that it slows down brain activity.
Alcohol comes in a wide range of drinks with different alcoholic strengths, colours, and tastes.
It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to purchase alcohol. There is a Challenge 25 Policy meaning that ID will be checked for those who look under 25.
For a young person there is no safe number of units due your developing brain and how it can affect your development.
Spirits usually contain a much higher concentration of alcohol than wine or lager and are normally drunk in smaller measures.
Ready-to-drink mixers and alcopops may not seem to be strong drinks but they may contain more alcohol than typical bottles or cans of beer or cider.
Young people can become intoxicated much quicker due to their lower body weight and ability to metabolise. This puts them at risk of alcohol poisoning.
Impaired Judgement and Reduced Reaction Time.
The risk of overdose increases if you mix cocaine with alcohol.
Mood check before using substances as it can enhance the mood that you are feeling.
Don’t drink on an empty stomach. Eating prior to consuming alcohol and drinking water in between alcoholic drinks can help prevent blackouts and alcohol poisoning.
Have drinks with a lower alcohol content.
Taking small sips of a beverage is safer than downing it quickly.
Don’t leave your drink unattended, accept drinks off strangers or share drinks.
Cocaine is a white powder that is normally snorted or rubbed into the gums.
Cocaine is a stimulant meaning that it can increase the heart rate.
There are three types of cocaine: coke, crack and freebase.
o Coke looks like a fine white powder
o Crack looks like small lumps or rocks
o Freebase looks like a crystallised powder
Most people snort cocaine – they crush it into a fine powder, divide it into lines and snort it through the nose.
Smoking - Crack or freebase can be smoked through a glass pipe, tube, plastic bottle or in foil.
Injecting - Powdered coke and crack can be prepared to make a solution for injecting, which is much more dangerous than snorting or smoking cocaine.
Snorting cocaine can damage your nose, especially if it’s not been chopped very finely.
Impaired Judgement and Reduced Reaction Time.
The risk of overdose increases if you mix cocaine with other drugs or alcohol.
Regular use can make you feel depressed and run down.
Cocaine can be detected in a urine test for up to 3 days after snorting it.
Start with a very small amount and see how you feel. Not all cocaine has the same purity and strength, so it can be hard to judge the dose.
Don’t use or share banknotes to snort cocaine. They can be dirty and can spread blood-borne viruses.
Cocaine will reduce your need to sleep or eat, which in turn can affect your physical and mental health. Try to eat a healthy diet and get enough sleep: it will make you feel better.
Ketamine is sold as a grainy white or light brown powder. Looks like cocaine but is a very different drug.
Ketamine is a dissociative drug, which means it causes people to feel separated or detached from their body or physical environment.
A clear liquid, when used in medicine.
A grainy white or brown crystalline powder when sold on the street.
Tablets, although this is less common.
Most people who take powder ketamine will snort it. Users often talk of taking a ‘bump’, meaning they snort a small amount of ketamine.
Bombing - Some people ‘bomb’ it, which is swallowing the powder wrapped in a cigarette paper.
Injecting - People who regularly use ketamine sometimes inject it to get a bigger hit. They usually inject ketamine into a muscle.
Ketamine can increase your heart rate and blood pressure. It can make you confused, agitated, delirious and disconnected from reality.
When snorted, the effects will start within five to ten minutes with a speedy rush-like feeling, and last between one and two hours. With small amounts, people report feeling dreamy, as if they’re having an out of-body experience.
With larger amounts, the effects become stronger and can turn into a full-blown hallucinogenic trip, sometimes known as a K-hole. You might find it difficult to move your arms and legs, patterns may look like they’re moving, colours might shift and change, and you might have a synesthetic experience where you feel like you ‘see’ music.
There’s increasing evidence that ketamine can damage the bladder. It can lead to irreversible bladder damage. If you experience an increased need to urinate, find you’re passing blood in your urine (wee, piss), are leaking urine or are in pain when you urinate, consult your GP and let them know you use ketamine.
Start with a very small amount and see how you feel.
Don’t use or share banknotes to snort ketamine. They can be dirty and can spread blood-borne viruses.
Do not use alone, always make people aware of what you are using by writing this down.
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Cannabis is a plant-based drug. It can be smoked, eaten or vaped.
THC (delta9-etrahydrocannabino) is believed to be the main ingredient that produces the psychoactive effects.
Weed is made from drying out the leaves and flowering parts of the cannabis plant. It can look like dried herbs and is usually brownish green in colour.
Most people mix it with tobacco and roll it into a cannabis cigarette known as a spliff or joint. Some people don’t use tobacco at all and make weed-only spliffs.
Using bongs - people do this by mixing the drug with tobacco and putting it in a pipe, lighting it, and then inhaling the smoke through water out of a bong.
Cannabis Vapes - Most people use a vaporiser which heats the cannabis, rather than burning it. They can also purchase liquid which contains CBD or THC.
Edibles can be difficult to identify. Sometimes the packaging differs slightly from shop bought items.
It can take up to 20 minutes or more for someone to feel the effects. If someone takes 1 edible, then they need to wait to feel the effects before they take some more or else, they are at risk of double dosing.
People do this by mixing cannabis into cakes, tea, yoghurt or sweets. The amount of cannabis in these products can vary greatly and sometimes – especially in sweets – other harmful drugs are added or used instead.
Impaired Judgement and Reduced Reaction Time.
The brain is still developing until 25 and therefore cannabis use can have an impact on the development of the brain.
THC can supress the immune system, leading to a higher chance of illness.
The longer you take cannabis for, the more tolerant you may become. This means people will need more of the substance to feel the same effects.
Avoid using with other drugs, this can put you at a much higher risk of an overdose.
Use a glass bong instead of a plastic bong. Plastic contains toxins which aren’t safe to inhale.
If you are not in a good mental state, using drugs can make it feel worse, so it might be best to avoid it when feeling like this.
