Cllr Taylor at the summit

Organisations join to battle drugs and alcohol

Leaders and Chief Executives from all over Staffordshire have pledged to do more to tackle the effects of substance misuse together at an historic summit staged this week.

More than 120 people attended the event with leaders from the Police, the Fire Service, the Local Area Agreement Strategic Board and District and Borough Councils coming together to find out more about the key findings in the recently published substance misuse report. It revealed an alarming picture of what is happening across Staffordshire.

Home Office Minister, Vernon Coaker (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime Reduction at the Home Office) also spoke at the summit, paying tribute to some of the extensive work already achieved across Staffordshire to help those affected by drink and drug abuse.

Two former addicts addressed the summit with stories of their own personal journeys and how they managed to rebuild their lives with the help of the Burton Addiction Centre and other agencies. Mark Smith told of his' Riches to Rags' story. Once the owner of four successful businesses, his addiction to class A drugs and alcohol led him to lose his family, friends and ultimately his home and businesses.

 "There should definitely be more facilities made available to people who need them. Without their help my life would have continued to be an endless nightmare when I was spending up to £600 per week just to maintain my habit," says Mark.

All leaders and Chief Executives were invited to sign the Concordat at the end of the morning session by Council Leader, John Taylor.

Cllr Taylor said:  "The stories we heard here should inspire us all to do more to tackle these problems and make our communities safer places to live, introduce more people into treatment more quickly and help provide more employment and housing opportunities for those directly affected by drug and alcohol problems. The Concordat is a written pledge by all leaders to undertake activities in line with the priorities identified in the report, to tackle the findings together."

Also speaking at the summit were Chief Constable, Chris Sims and the Chairman of the Local Area Agreement Strategic Board, Alex Fox.

During the afternoon groups from all organisations sat down together to come up with some key actions based on five themes including; reducing hospital admissions, creating more effective treatment strategies, rebuilding lives and disrupting the supply of illegal drugs.

The summit was well received by all those who attended and the leaders and chief executives intend to get together again in a few months time in order to review progress made across the County.

Page Last Modified: 09/04/2008 10:50:31

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