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Welcome
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Government announces new Health Diversion Approach to drug possession for personal use
by Lucy Dillon
On 2 August 2019, the Government announced the launch of a Health Diversion Approach to the
possession of drugs for personal use. The final report of the Working Group to Consider Alternative
Approaches to the Possession of Drugs for Personal Use and supporting documents were also published
that day.1,2,3 Taking into consideration the findings of this report and the range of stakeholder
views, the Department of Health and the Department of Justice and Equality agreed to adopt a more
health-led approach to possession for personal use.

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In brief
The theme of the National Drugs Forum for 2019 is ‘Inclusion Health: responding to complex health
needs of people who use drugs’. Inclusion health is an emergent approach to policy development,
service delivery, and research. It seeks to explain the health impact for those living as part of a
vulnerable and excluded population, and to work towards preventing and redressing the consequences
of these determinants.

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Policy
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The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018
by Claire O'Dwyer
The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 20181 was signed into law by the President of Ireland on 17 October
2018. The Act faced much opposition from various interest groups and the three-year interval between
publication of the Bill and enactment of the Act was the longest ever in Ireland.

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What Works: Sharing Knowledge, Improving Children’s Futures
by Lucy Dillon
The initiative of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA), What Works: Sharing
Knowledge, Improving Children’s Futures, was launched by Minister Katherine Zappone on 19 June 2019.
The event brought together key stakeholders in policy, provision, and practice communities.

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Planet Youth in WRDATF
by Lucy Dillon
In 2018, the Western Region Drug and Alcohol Task Force (WRDATF) committed itself to supporting the
implementation of Planet Youth in parts of the region.1 As a first step, data were collected using
the standardised Planet Youth tool with students in schools in participating areas. The results of
these surveys are available on the programme’s Irish site, [link removed] [
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Progress report on national drugs strategy for 2018
by Lucy Dillon
Ireland’s national drugs strategy Reducing harm, supporting recovery: a health-led approach to drug
and alcohol use in Ireland 2017–2025 was launched in July 2017.1 The first progress report on the
strategy was published in June 2019, namely Reducing harm, supporting recovery: progress 2018 and
planned activity 2019.2

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Hidden Harm strategic statement
by Lucy Dillon
As previously reported in issue 69 of Drugnet Ireland,1 the Health Service Executive (HSE) and
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, jointly launched the Hidden Harm strategic statement, Seeing
through hidden harm to brighter futures,2 in January 2019.

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Headshop legislation and changes in drug-related psychiatric admissions
by Lucy Dillon
The impact of changes in legislation on drug-using behaviour is an area of interest for policymakers
and other stakeholders. In 2017, a paper by Smyth et al. explored the relationship between changes
in Ireland’s legislation related to new psychoactive substances (NPS) and their problematic use by
looking at national drug treatment data.1

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Meeting the needs of BME communities – organisational connector models
by Lucy Dillon
In 2017, CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign produced the report, Stimulating and supporting a black and
minority ethnic voice on drug issues.1 The research aimed ‘to explore possible structures and
processes through which to engage with, hear the voice of, and empower Black and minority ethnic
[BME] communities in relation to issues of drug use’ (p. 5).

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Prevalence
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Has an increase in the dispensing of pregabalin influenced poisoning deaths in Ireland?
by Ena Lynn
Deaths caused by the toxic effect of drugs (poisoning deaths) are preventable and good clinical
practice with supporting legislation can help prevent such deaths. Irish data on poisoning deaths
show an increase in direct pregabalin-related poisoning deaths from the years 2013 to 2016.1

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National Self-Harm Registry annual report, 2017
by Seán Millar
The 16th annual report from National Self-Harm Registry Ireland was published in 2018.1 The report
contains information relating to every recorded presentation of deliberate self-harm to acute
hospital emergency departments in Ireland in 2017 and complete national coverage of cases treated.

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Trends in addiction treatment in Irish prisons
by Seán Millar
A recent Irish study1 analysed trends in addiction treatment demand in prisons in Ireland from 2009
to 2014 using available national surveillance data in order to identify any implications for
practice and policy.

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Hepatitis C virus screening and treatment in Irish prisons from a governor and prison officer
perspective
by Seán Millar
A recent Irish study aimed to explore prison governors’ and officers’ views on barriers and enablers
to HCV screening and treatment.4 In this research, published in the BMC journal Health & Justice,
five focus group sessions were conducted among two grades of security staff: the prison governor and
the prison office.

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Deaths in custody in Irish prisons
by Seán Millar
In order to plan preventive measures, an investigation was commissioned by the National Suicide and
Harm Prevention Steering Group to review the deaths of prisoners in Ireland between 2009 and 2014.4
Coroners’ findings were analysed, including postmortem tests, to assess whether drugs played a role
or not.

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Self-harm in Irish prisons
by Seán Millar
The Health Service Executive’s National Office for Suicide Prevention and the National Suicide
Research Foundation assist the Irish Prison Service with data management, data analysis, and
reporting. This article highlights findings from a report1 detailing the first 12 months of data on
the analysis of all episodes of self-harm across the Irish prison estate in 2017.

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Responses
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Restorative justice – strategies for change
by Ciara H Guiney
In June 2019, the collective restorative justice strategy for Ireland was published.1 The strategy
is the first Irish output of a four-year, collaborative cross-European project aimed at helping to
embed restorative justice and restorative practices within the Irish criminal justice system.

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Addressing educational disadvantage – Youthreach and DEIS
by Lucy Dillon
Educational disadvantage is widely recognised as a risk factor for substance misuse.1 Improving
supports for young people at risk of early substance use is an action of the national drugs strategy
– Reducing harm, supporting recovery: a health-led response to drug and alcohol use in Ireland
2017-2025 (Action 1.2.5),2 which identifies the preventative role of programmes that support young
people to stay in education.

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Tabor Group annual report, 2018
by Seán Millar
The Tabor Group is a provider of residential addiction treatment services in Ireland. It aims to
offer hope, healing, and recovery to clients suffering from addictions through integrated and caring
services. This article highlights services provided by the Tabor Group to individuals with a
substance use addiction in 2018.

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New publications
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Recent research added to the HRB National Drugs Library website

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HRB National Drugs Library
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HRB National Drugs Library – Find the evidence
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