Nottingham’s Communities Working Together to Tackle Drugs and Alcohol

The Council House, Nottingham, 23rd April 2009, 9.15am – 2pm

The Aim:

To influence positive changes in local services to better meet the needs of local people Objectives: By the end of the conference, participants will be able to:

• Recognise the harmful effects of drug and alcoholmisuse on individuals, families and communities
• Identify the benefits of community action in improving the lives of local people
• Make recommendations in relation to how Neighbourhood Management can improve services and treatment for chaotic users of drugs and alcohol
• Evaluate the progress towards meeting the 5 action points arising from the first conference – Crackdown I
• Make further recommendations in relation to building on this progress

Audience

We recognise that we need to take a whole-community approach to tackling drugs and alcohol misuse. This conference welcomes:

• Local people including drug user/s and former drug user/s
• Frontline workers, family intervention teams, primary and secondary care services. Statuary and voluntary support services
• Policy makers and key decision makers

Sponsored by ACAF, SSCF Community and Nottingham City Council Neighbourhood Management

Background

Drugs and alcohol misuse cause harm.

They cause harm to the individual, harm to families and harm to communities. Of course we have drug related crime, including organised crime and those that benefit from it. We have to think about the impact of this on the cost of public services such as the Police, Health Service and the City Council, and perhaps, most importantly, our local communities.

In addition, attention has turned to alcohol. The UK has had a binge drinking culture for some time. Although alcohol can be legally purchased, it can, in some instances, have a more devastating effect on local communities than the illicit drugs trade. Overall the debate around alcohol and drugs (Class A, B and C) is gathering pace and the issues are becoming more widely discussed and contested. However, there appears to be a widespread consensus that current policies are in urgent need of review.

In 2008 we held the first Crackdown Conference. This event attracted local, national and international speakers, was received well by participants and 5 key action points were agreed. At Crackdown II we will feedback on what progress has been made so far and gain your views on what else could be done to achieve these aspirations.