28

SUIT Interview Karen Collier

From Addiction Services

What is your job role within

Horizon House?

I am the health promotion nurse

at Horizon house, which involves

physical health checks and

advice as well as offering

vaccinations and screening for

blood borne viruses. I am also

keyworker to a small number of

service users and help in the

needle exchange.

How do service users make it easy

to do your job?

Service users make it easier for us

to do our job when they want to

be in treatment and make it a

priority in their life. This includes

attending appointments, being

on time and picking up

medication as prescribed as well

as being open to other

approaches such as group work,

one to one counselling and

complimentary therapies, all

available at the YMCA Bridge.

How do service users make it

difficult to do your job?

The opposite of the last question I

answered really. When people

don't want to be in treatment or

are just not ready to engage well,

but there is always opportunity to

say or suggest something that

may help

What do you enjoy about your

job?

I enjoy meeting interesting

people, and I love seeing people

make steps to turn their lives

around and start to get well.

What would you change about

the service?

Sometimes I think in an ideal world

there would be many ways to

improve the service, i.e. More

funds, opportunities for residential

detox and rehab, but there are

no easy answers. The service just

needs to be as accessible, flexible

and service user focused as

possible.

What do you do to relax after a

hard day at work?

Spending time with my family,

gardening and the occasional

gig.

Wolverhampton Drug Service Users Lifestyle MagazineWolverhampton Drug Service Users Lifestyle MagazineWolverhampton Drug Service Users Lifestyle Magazine

Issue 19 Sept– Oct 2010

A Shift In Treatment?A Shift In Treatment?

The Love Of My Life The Love Of My Life –– A True StoryA True Story

Super Smack!Super Smack!

Free

2

Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of this work, no responsibility

for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result

of any statement in it, can be accepted by the editor or by Wolverhampton Voluntary

Sector Council Service User Involvement Team,

Welcome to Welcome to Welcome to

Welcome to issue 19 of Substance Magazine. Autumn is almost here

and the year seems to be flying by, its hard to believe that the next

edition of this magazine will be the Christmas one!!

Everyone here at the office would like to say goodbye and good

luck to Mel our administrator, who has been here since the start of

the project. We will miss having her working with us, but wish her all

the best for the future.

As always we aim to provide an interesting read, this edition contains

real life stories, puzzles and a feature on the future of drug treatment

services, something that is important to both drugs workers and

service users.

There is now a page in the magazine specifically for you to write

down your stories, thoughts, poems or whatever you want to contrib-

ute, and send it to us at our freepost address.

Don't forget to visit our website (www.suiteam.com) where you will

find lots of helpful information and past editions of the magazine. As

always thank you to everyone who has contributed to this edition

and to those of you who are still to do so, I look forward to

seeing your work soon!

Substance Magazine Editorial Group.

This magazine is put together by Wolverhamp-

ton Service User Involvement Team who hold

weekly editorial group meetings to discuss its

content, printing etc. If you would like to be

part of the Team please call us on (01902)

328983 or text your details to 88010 starting

your message with the word SUIT.

Local Service Directory

Full Address: Wolverhampton PCT Tel No: (01902) 444030

Addiction Services

Horizon House

Pitt Street

Wolverhampton

WV3 0NF

A l c oh o l an d Dru g D rop In -

Monday to Thursday -: 9:30am - 4:30pm

Service User Involvement Team

S U I T Full Address:

c/o WVSC

16 Temple Street

Wolverhampton

WV2 4AN

Tel No -:

01902 328983 or

w w w . s u i t e a m . c o m

Helping to improve

drug treatment and lives

Subs– see young

people across

the city at various

community

venues.

Telephone

Number:

01902 572041

Opening Hours:

Monday to Thursday - 9am - 6pm

Friday - 9am - 5pm

Offers; Group Work, Key Work, Harm

Reduction, Substitute Prescribing,

Acupuncture, Family Therapy,

General Drug Information.

Progress 2

Work

Contact Dani Folan on

(07814 414560) or ask your key

worker or Jobcentre Advisor to

be referred.

Local Service Directory

LITTLE BROTHERS OF THE GOOD

SHEPHERD

The Methodist Cen-

tre. 24 School Street,

Wolverhampton

Morning Service

10.30 – 11.30 a.m.

Monday & Thursday: Dry Food,

Gents Clothes, Male Showers

Friday: Gents Clothes, Male

Shower

Afternoon Service: 2 – 3.30 pm.

Daily: Service of Food Packages

If you need any advice or guidance on Homelessness

issues feel free to

contact Wolver-

hampton City

Council on the

details below -:

Homeless Services

Unit

Social Services

Wolverhampton City

Council

Civic Centre

St. Peter's Square

Wolverhampton

The Lords

Soup Kitchen Full Meals

served

between

7 & 9pm - :

Sun and Wed.

For anyone in

need.

All Welcome

● Provide advice & guidance

● Activities like life skills, literacy etc

● Signposting

● Benefits & Tenancy advice

St. GeorgesSt. GeorgesSt. Georges Tel -:

(01902) 421904

St Marks Rd

Chapel Ash

W‟ton

WV3 09H Hub

Opening Hrs

09:15 -17:00

3

What’s inside this edition. Contents Page

The latest news Pg 4-5

SUIT Football Pg 6

Ivory Wave?? Pg 7

Shift in the treatment of drug addicts! Pg 8-9

Needle lottery scheme Pg 10

NTA– Abstinence is the way Pg11 Women's focus group Pg 12

Bet this will get you talking Pg 13

Sudoku Pg 14

A Page for you Pg 15-16

Recipe page Pg 17

The love of my life Pg 18-19

Coalway house– Residential rehab Pg 20 Your Questions Pg 21

Super smack Pg 22-23

Local NA meetings Pg 24

Needle exchange pharmacies Pg 25

Local service Directory Pg 26-27

DON’T FORGET

Anyone can contribute an article, poem, story, question etc. Send your stuff FREE to:

SUIT, c/o WVSC, FREEPOST MID14051, Wolverhampton, WV2 4BR.

4

News - News - News – News - News - News - News - News

Crack hidden in Kinder Eggs!

Drug dealers in Birmingham have been using plastic eggs normally

found inside children‟s chocolate favourite Kinder Surprise to hide lethal

crack cocaine.

Detectives found the drug hidden in Kinder Surprise egg containers after

a raid in Woodstock Road, Handsworth which netted thousands of

pounds of cash and drugs.

Police targeted the house following growing concerns from local

people.

Officers found individual rocks of crack hidden in yellow plastic

capsules, which are normally used to store the surprise toys in Kinder

Surprise eggs. Police officers believe dealers are using the innocent

looking plastic capsules to keep drugs safe, dry and also disguise what

they are doing on the streets.

The raid also uncovered smaller deals of crack hidden inside a

multi-vitamin pills container.

Three men, aged 25, 38 and 37, who are all from the Handsworth area,

were arrested on suspicion of possession and intent to supply class A

drugs after officers found crack cocaine prepared for sale at the house.

Small amounts of cannabis were also recovered along with mobile

phones believed to be connected to drug dealing.

As well as £5,000 worth of cannabis and crack, around £15,000 cash

was also seized which police will apply to be used to fund community

initiatives under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The raid is the start of a two-week zero tolerance operation.

Ferrero, which makes Kinder Surprise, said that as it was an ongoing

police matter they did not wish to comment.

Source: Express & Star.

25

A List of Pharmacies In Wolverhampton who Offer Needle Exchange

A Brickley Ltd, 88 Griffiths Drive, WV11 2JW

All Saints Pharmacy, 91-93 All Saints Road, WV2 1DR

Alpharm Ltd, 468 Stafford Road, WV10 6AP

Anderson Chemist, 311 Dudley Road, WV2 3JE

Boots Pharmacy, 40-41 Dudley Street, WV1 3ER

Boots Pharmacy, 100 Church Street, Bilston, WV14 0BJ

Brooklands Pharmacy, 48 Brooklands Parade, WV1 2NE

Brutons Pharmacy, 1 Mervyn Place, Bilston, WV14 8DD

Co-op Pharmacy, Avion Centre, 6 Bargate Drive, WV6 0QW

Co-op Pharmacy, 425 Dudley Road, WV2 3AH

Co-op Pharmacy, 8 Showell Circus, WV10 9BA

Co-op, Pendeford Health Centre, Whitburn Close, WV9 5NJ

Essington Pharmacy, 129 Long Knowle Lane, WV11 1JG

HN Pharmacy, 124 Cannock Road, WV10 8PW

Lloyds Pharmacy, 323/325 Penn Road, WV4 5QF

Lloyds Pharmacy, 34/35 Thornley Street, WV1 1JP

Lloyds Pharmacy, 18-20 The Broadway, WV10 8EB

Lloyds Pharmacy, 45 Church Street, WV14 0AX

Lloyds Pharmacy, Lower Street, WV6 9NS

Lloyds Pharmacy, 181 Wednesfield Road, WV10 0EN

Lloyds Pharmacy, 18 High Street, Wednesfield, WV11 1SZ

Meerapharm, 331 Bushbury Lane, WV10 9UJ

Murrays Healthcare, 128 Childs Avenue, Coseley, WV14 9XB

Phoenix Pharmacy, Phoenix Health Centre, Parkfield Road, WV4 6ED

Staveley Chemist, 212 Staveley Road, WV1 4RH

Supercare Pharmacy, 135 Dudley Road, WV2 3HD

Superdrug Pharmacy, 65/67 Mander Square, WV1 3NN

Tettenhall Wood Pharmacy, 12 School Road, WV6 8EN

All equipment is provided for free

Look out

for this sign

on the shop

front to find

out if they

provide the

service

24

W o l v e r h a m p t o n ►Monday 7:30 pm Methodist Church, Darlington Street

►Friday 7:30 pm Methodist Church, Darlington Street

W e s t B r o m w i c h ►Wednesday 7:30 pm ‘One desire-freedom’, Chapter House

Phoenix St

(upstairs in lounge ring bell for access).

W a l s a l l ►Thursday 7:30 pm ‘The war is over’, St Matthew centre,

St Matthew close, Churchill. (Ring bell for

access).

S t o u r b r i d g e ►Monday 8:00 pm 54, Claycroft Place, Lye DY9 8BZ

►Tuesday 8:00 pm Gibbs House, Gibbs Rd, off Bald Lane, Lye.

►Wednesday 6:30 pm ‘The truth in Lye’, The Warehouse,

Atlantic House,

Dudley Rd. (Building behind the Bronx).

- Open on request.

5

News - News - News – News - News - News - News - News

ChildLine calls prompted by parents' drink and drugs

A total of 150,000 calls were received by ChildLine in the 2009-10 year

More than 100 children a week are contacting the ChildLine helpline with

worries about their parents' drinking or drug use, according to the NSPCC.

It said in the year to March, 5,700 children had called, but founder Esther

Rantzen told the BBC there were likely to be many more too afraid to do so.

Two-thirds of those callers had mentioned their parents' drinking.

The children calling about that issue were also more likely than other child

callers to report abuse, it added.

Ms Rantzen said: "These are the children that know our number and ring us,

but what about the many, many thousands of children who aren't, all as,

familiar with ChildLine's work and who might be fearful of ringing us?"

She added: "I am, in a sense, imploring those people who work with children

to be alert to the possibility that the silent, friendless child... may have

trouble at home created by alcohol and drug problems."

Mephedrone no Killer, but next

legal high could be!

While mephedrone was blamed for

many young deaths prior to its ban

in April 2010, there was no

conclusive evidence to prove cau-

sality in every single case, said Har-

ris. The 'media frenzy' whipped up

around the then legal high meant

the ban was pushed through - and

Harris said this is where the biggest

mistake lay. With new legal highs

coming to light all the time, he said

corrupted, complex and unknown

drugs are replacing mephedrone

and will potentially cause more

danger in comparison. Source : DDN News

Benefit Withdrawal Considered

People dependent on drugs and

alcohol who refuse treatment could

have thei r welfare benefi ts

withdrawn under plans being

considered by the Home Office.

The idea is in a consultation paper

on the government's drug strategy

for England, Wales and Scotland.

The proposals also suggest that ad-

dicts on benefits should not be

required to seek work while receiving

treatment. Source: BBC News

6

23

The niceness inside you a thing of the past, the self centred

creature is moving fast.

It tells you to burgle, rob houses and shops, carelessly leaving your

prints for the cops,

Car on the drive as you‟re trashing a dwelling, grabbing the stereo

and the telly, anything worth

Selling, alls on your mind is there‟s money to earn, not checking to

see if the owners return,

A face at the window, a look of surprise, “neighbourhood watch”

lighting up in their eyes

Your only hope is the door that‟s ajar, race down the drive and

jump in the car,

Soon its time to pick up the pieces; regain the respect by ironing

the creases,

Paying back all the loans you had, you must be mad to get so

sad.

You took the money from the poor and needy, when want was a

need and need was greedy.

Payback comes to one and all, brown makes the strongest

people fall, you did the crimes, you did

Commit, so you could get a little bit of golden brown, evil shit,

together in a hit.

Too late as now the damage is done, no longer is tooting much

fun,

Pointing at your head a gun, admit smack has fucking won.

But just in time you‟re up in court, the biggest battle yet to be

fought,

A ray of hope soon shines your way, praying for that distant day

when aches and pains will go away.

Emotions come back, tears return, mistakes are made so you can

learn,

A different life with a different name, turn back the clocks you‟d

do the same,

But now times past its all behind forget the shit of every kind,

Why should we remember sorrow? Keep on dreaming of

tomorrow!

By Anonymous

22

Super Smack

A bad boys doing time for doing crime that once did pay,

To support his way of feeling drunk, by taking junk,

That fucks you up and brings you down, no longer to be seen

around town,

Avoiding pubs, clubs and faces, sitting down in run down places,

Chasing dragons, inhaling brown, feeling good, when acting the

clown,

Losing friends and owing money, anything to get that honey.

Making loads by selling smack, now in too deep and can‟t turn

back,

Scoring more to feel your high, your heads way up in the sky.

Slowly starting to question why? You‟ve got no tears left to cry.

You feel no pain, your heads a shed, thinking you‟d be better off

dead,

Go on you‟ve made your bed, the bills keep coming, the sum gets

big

And all because you need that dig, debts keep growing while foil

is used,

Brown is known for being abused.

Congratulations! Feeling proud? Well go on shout out loud as if the

world is unaware,

About the dirty works you share, out your arm then in another,

There‟s nothing wrong he‟s like a brother!

One of the many tempted fates, but what‟s a needle shared with

mates?

Don‟t need to think about the worst, why should you when the

buzz comes first!

Opinions of you stoop as low as the floor and your only concern is

that you want more.

Hands in your pockets results as before, not caring your habit has

made you this poor.

Cheeks sunken in, aged ten years, in ten days, when will you

realise the error of your ways?

Sex is a turn off, no longer a must; scoring a deal is your number

one lust.

Can‟t you see that your downfall is making you mean? When

waking to heroin becomes a routine

7

Ivory Wave?? By SUIT

I had never heard of this „legal high‟

until it was recently mentioned in the

news- “Body found floating in sea off

Isle of Wight”. But what does that have

to do with legal highs? It was only later I

heard the rest of this news story when it

became clear that they were blaming

a „new‟ legal high for this mans death, it

is alarming when there are soo many

news stories week after week about

young people taking legal highs and dying. Although in

the recent „Mephadrone‟ cases this was found not to be

the cause of death for the young people taking it. Will this

also be the case with the new „Ivory Wave‟ legal high?

The government may have illegalised Mephadrone but

surely they don't think that they can keep up to date with

this. Every time one legal high is made illegal there will be

another one in waiting. So what exactly can be done?

Personally I think that it is the internet that needs to be

monitored more closely. It took me literally two minutes to

find a number of web-sites where I could order legal highs

to be delivered to my door. It is no wonder that they are

so appealing to young people, they are cheap and

readily available.

Will this legal high craze that we seem to be having at the

minute alter what we see now as drug treatment? Do

these legal highs have long term, damaging effects? Do

they cause withdrawal? There are so many things we

don't know about them, there are so many questions but

little in the way of answers!

What's your opinion???? Let us know.

8

Shift in treatment of drug

addicts! By SUIT

David Cameron plans to press ahead

with an expensive shift in treatment for

drug addicts, towards residential

programmes and away from the use of

methadone as a substitute licensed drug.

The prime minister has ordered a revised

drugs policy to be in place by the end of

the year, by which time the Department

of Health and Home Office will have

been told their budgets.

He is also planning to make the voluntary sector a lead body in

delivery of the programme, so reducing, or possibly ending, the

role of the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse.

Speaking during a PM Direct debate this week, Cameron said:

"The last government became too target obsessed. It was all

about how many addicts are in touch with treatment agencies,

and this, in too many cases, really meant the addict was talking

to someone and maybe getting some methadone, which is a

government authorised form of opium, rather than heroin. It did

not really address the problem – that [the addict] had a drug

habit.

"I would like to … try to provide – difficult though it will be given

the shortage of money we have been left – more residential

treatment programmes. In the end, the way you get drug addicts

clean is by getting them off drugs altogether, challenging their

addiction rather than just replacing one opiate with another."

It is the first time Cameron has spoken about drugs policy since he

became prime minister, and reflects his strong view that

methadone is just a state-sponsored form of addiction. Cameron

has been looking at greater use of "payment by results" so that

the voluntary sector is paid according to how long drug addicts

are kept away from their substances.

21

Your questions answered

Q. Can I get screened for

hepatitis in Wolverhampton?

(Anonymous)

A. Anyone who is in treatment

can get screened for hepatitis

B and C, Vaccinations are

available for hepatitis A and B,

this compromises of a three

week course of vaccinations

with a booster at twelve

months. This is available to

anyone accessing Horizon

House treatment services, if

you require any more

information please feel free to

drop in at Horizon House.

Karen Collier

Health Promotion Nurse

Q. How can I become a volunteer at SUIT?

(Anonymous)

A. To become a volunteer at SUIT you have to either be in drug

treatment or have been within the last six months. Once this

has been established we will ask you to come to an informal

interview so you can get to know a bit more about what we

do, once you are happy and we feel you can fit in with our

team, we will start you on a four week induction programme,

after which you will be a fully fledged member of SUIT.

If you would like more information on becoming a volunteer

please contact us on : 01902 328983 or visit www.suiteam.com.

SUIT Project Worker

Got a Question?

Need Answers?

Don’t know where to

turn?

Send your questions to SUIT and we

will get the answers you deserve.

Simply post your question to -:

Substance Magazine

SUIT c/o WVSC

Freepost 14051

Wolverhampton

WV2 4BR

20

9

A government source said: "This is something he feels very strongly

about and it is going to be a priority across government. Labour just

tried to sweep the problem under the carpet using methadone."

While in opposition shadow ministers, and the Centre for Social

Justice (CSJ), then chaired by Iain Duncan Smith, now work and

pensions secretary, battled to extract information from the

government on how many people were receiving methadone

treatment, in prison and elsewhere.

Central and local government spend about £1.2bn a year tackling

drug misuse in England. There are an estimated third of a million

problem drug users in England. More than 200,000 are in contact

with treatment agencies, but most are "maintained" on methadone

or other synthetic opiates, at a cost of £300m a year, rather than

pushed towards abstaining from drugs, whether prescribed or

illegal.

Cameron's criticism closely follows analysis presented by the CSJ in

a report last month calling for the National Treatment Agency to be

scrapped and replaced by an "addiction recovery board" covering

drugs and alcohol misuse

The CSJ claimed: "Since its inception the NTA has focused on simply

moving addicts into treatment and processing them through a 12-

week course of, usually, maintenance prescription … there is no

strategy or incentive to reduce the numbers on maintenance

treatment and move people into recovery."

The NTA disputed this analysis, and revised its thinking to ensure that

no one stayed indefinitely on methadone.

The body said on its website that it had launched "an ambitious

new blueprint to move people as quickly and safely as possible

through treatment to recovery and re-integration in their local

community". But from April 2012 the NTA, already suffering spending

cuts, will cease to be a separate organisation and its functions will

be transferred into the proposed Public Health Service.

More on page 11!

10

19

The Love of My Life

came to a head I got barred from two of the clubs that I made

most of my money from and got conned out of a large amount of

money!

It got to the point when I didn‟t know what to do and killing myself

seemed like the only thing I could do. I had no money, no food (not

that I ate much anyway), no drugs and no electricity, with the last

bit of change I had I went to the phone box and called home but

my big brother picked up and told me to fuck off before I could

talk (I don‟t think he would have done that if he knew how I was

feeling). With my last bit of hope gone I went home and took an

overdose. I took paracetomol, annadin, nytol sleeping tablets and

even antibiotics, I washed them all down with martini. This wasn‟t

just a cry for help I wanted to die, the next few hours were the scari-

est time of my life. I started tripping I could see shadows on the

walls in my flat, I felt things moving all around me. I started to find it

hard to walk and couldn‟t see properly I had a message on my

phone but could not read it. I just lay down on the sofa waiting to

die, it felt like I was on the top of a rollercoaster waiting to fall but I

didn‟t. I kept thinking this is it, I was ready to go but I just fell to sleep.

I woke up the next day at about 5:30pm and have never been so

upset to be alive. I was in a lot of pain and my back was hurting, I

went to the toilet and could smell the paracetomol that smell

makes me sick to this day.

I still think it‟s a miracle that I didn‟t die that night, my body must

have been that used to having chemicals pumped into. Soon after

I went to the Y.M.C.A Bridge, Horizon House and Corner House for

help. It would be nice to say that I lived happily ever after but I was

only 3 years into my love affair with drugs.

I still have seven years to fill you in on so keep a look out!!

By Darren Smith.

18

The Love of My Life

I am 26 years old and have never had a long term relationship,

apart from the one I‟ve had with drugs. A ten year love affair that

had a lot of ups, and just as many come downs. I first met the love

of my life on the 5th October 2001, it was one minute past midnight

in an old red phone box at a night club. That one pill changed my

life forever, my love affair started well, I was having fun, dancing

and meeting new friends. I soon became a regular face on the

club scene and even started selling love pills to other clubbers. In

such a short space of time id gone from being someone who

found it hard to fit in to someone other people could have fun

with and I loved it. But like all relationships the bad times catch up

fast, I was taking a lot of drugs up to 10-15 pills a night. I didn‟t

have just the one lover I had three: ketamine, ecstasy and my wife

cocaine, I even had a bit on the side with speed sometimes. Most

of the time it was a threesome with my three lovers all crushed up

together and snorted as one. I was making a lot of money and

had many fake people in my life who were more than willing to

help me spend it, no one ever told me to stop or slow down.

I started to look very ill and thin, I only weighed 9 stone and hardly

slept or ate. I looked a mess but couldn‟t see it myself because I

was taking drugs 24 hours a day 7 days a week. My weekend

would last for 6 days at a time and apart from short naps I spent

most of my time awake. The longest time I stayed awake for was 5

days straight and took a whole box of Nytol to end that specific

weekend. My weekends would start on a Thursday and end on a

Tuesday. My life went on like this until I was about 19, by this time I

was mixed up with gangsters who I was in debt to (rule number 1

don‟t get high on your own supply). I was now taking up to 60 pills

a week and endless amounts of coke and ket, I didn‟t know how

to cope with my life and most days I would cry over nothing.

I started to have fits in my sleep which made things even worse,

I would have extremely bad nightmares and got sleep paralysis.

My non-stop party life was collapsing from the inside out. My body,

mind and sole were ready to give up and call it a day. I didn‟t

want my life anymore and started thinking about killing myself

thinking that was the answer, no more dates, no more gangsters,

no more drugs and no more heart break. One week everything

11

NTA– Abstinence is the way

New business plan champions drug-free life beyond treatment

The National Treatment Agency (NTA) has announced that it will

champion abstinence-focused treatment in its newly published

business plan.

Calling its declared intention to move people as quickly as

possible through treatment to recovery and reintegration into the

community an „ambitious new blueprint‟, the NTA has involved

two well-known addiction experts, Prof John Strand of the National

Addiction Centre and Dr David Best of the University of the West of

Scotland.

Prof Strang will chair an expert group developing new clinical

protocols for substitute prescribing, which he said would guide

clinicians and agencies in helping people „to achieve their full

personal recovery‟, and which could still include prescribing

substitute medications where needed.

„I am pleased to be involved with creating a more dynamic

treatment system so that those with addiction problems can be

helped in the best ways possible for their individual circumstances

and personal aspirations,‟ he said.

Dr Best‟s work will look at ways of segmenting the treatment

population so that commissioners and providers could direct users

towards tailor made programme that would, he said, „encourage

them to take ownership of their own future to achieve

independence and recovery from addiction.‟

„That will enable us to match treatment and supporting services

much more closely to the users who will benefit from them,‟ he

added.

Another key theme of the NTA‟s business plan in the run-up 2012,

when its functions will be transferred into the new Public Health

Service, would be „providing better value for money from central

investment‟.

Until then, „the NTA intends to get on with our core business,‟ said

chief executive Paul Hayes. „Working with partners in drug

treatment, health, councils, police, prisons, probation and social

services, our focus will be on sustained recovery, demonstrable

outcomes and providing better services for less money.‟ Source: DDN News

12

17

Country Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

Serves 6

1 kg (2 lb) mixed root vegetables- carrots,

celery, leeks, onions, parsnips, potatoes,

Swedes, turnips, etc.

75 g (3 oz) butter or margarine

2 cloves garlic, sliced

bay leaf

salt and pepper to taste

300 ml (1/2 pt) good chicken or vegetable stock

a little grated cheese to garnish (optional)

Method

1. Wash and prepare the vegetables, trimming and peeling where

necessary, and slice them.

2. Heat the butter or margarine in a large pan and add the vegetables,

garlic, bay leaf, and a little salt and pepper.

3. Stir well, then cover and cook slowly for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add the stock, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for 30

minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

5. Remove the bay leaf. Strain the soup, reserving the liquid.

6. Coarsely mash or blend half the vegetables. Add to the liquid.

7. Sieve or liquidize the remaining vegetables until they form a thick

puree.

8. Add to the soup, reheat and taste for seasoning.

9. Spoon into individual bowls and serve sprinkled with grated cheese, if

wished.

16

A Page For You!

This page has been left blank so you can send us

your stories, poems or anything else you would

like to see in the magazine, simply tear the

page out and send it to our freepost

address printed on the opposite side of the

page. (If you don‟t want your name with it, you don't have to)

13

13

Bet this will get you talking

Taking a break from the hectic schedule of the extremely busy

office the other day, the conversation got around to music and the

amount of references to drugs and in particular Heroin there are out

there. From the well known attributes such as Golden Brown

(Stranglers) a little research found some surprising results. Damon

Alburn has stated that “beetlebaum “(Blur) was written whilst he was

struggling with his own Heroin addiction, Red Hot Chilli Peppers have

a line “take me to the place I love where I used to burn” from “take

me to the bridge”. Velvet Underground (and many covers) have

“waiting for my man, twenty six dollars in my hand,... He‟s never

early, he‟s always late. First thing you learn is you always gotta wait”.

How about relating to John Lennon (the plastic ono band) “cold

turkey has got me on the run”

There is another Stranglers track called Don‟t Bring Harry (see lyrics)

and it is believed that the phrase “you can check out any time you

like, but you can never leave” from Eagles Hotel California refers to

the fact that we can always give up drugs but addiction is for life.

Long has been the theory that Mr. Tambourine Man (Bob Dylan, The

Byrds) is a euphemism for a drug dealer, decide for your selves,

“Take me for a trip upon your magic swirling ship, all my senses have

been shipped, I‟m ready to go anywhere I‟m ready for to fade, into

my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way, I promise to go

under it In the jingle jangle morning I‟ll come following you.”

Amy Whinehouse‟s ”rehab” by the way refers to alcoholic rehab

which she was advised to attend, this came before her much

publicized later problems with harder drugs.

Please send in your own particular favorites of these songs.

It is amazing to think that many of today‟s artists have struggled with

substance addiction. Perhaps we can gain encouragement from

the fact that in the main they have sorted their lives out and gone

on to have very successful careers.

Can we please have your own favorites/suggestions? Hopefully we

will find space in the next issue to feature these.

By a SUIT Volunteer.

14

Sudoku

A l i t t l e p u z z l e t o k e e p y o u r m i n d a c t i v e !

Easy

Moderate Hard

By Alan Kilmister.

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