8,000 hospital mental health cases linked to substance abuse

THE damage drug use can cause to mental health has been revealed by NHS figures showing it contributed to nearly 8,000 hospital admissions in the West Midlands in just one year.

This was the number of people treated in hospital who were diagnosed as having a mental health problem or behavioural disorder related to drug use.

The NHS data showed that 5,622 men and 2,290 women received treatment in the wider West Midlands region. In Birmingham, 2,086 people received treatment. There were 539 admissions in the area covered by Dudley Borough Council, 426 in the Sandwell area, 389 in Walsall and 214 in Solihull.

The figures included patients where drug use was either the primary problem or a contributory factor to their illness. The West Midlands number has risen from 6,616 cases the year previously. It comes after the Government announced plans for a major crackdown on the illicit drugs trade, including socalled ‘chemsex’ drugs which are used before or during sex.

But critics said the Government’s approach was doomed to failure, because it simply treated drug use as a crime rather than a health issue.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman, Norman Lamb, said: “The drugs strategy won’t work. It totally fails to address a key problem: treating drug dependence as a criminal justice issue rather than a health one.”

Figures show drug misuse has been falling. The Home Office estimates eight per cent of people aged 16 to 59 in England and Wales took illegal drugs in 2015/16, around 2.7 million people, down from 10.5 per cent a decade ago.

However, the Home Office said new threats were emerging, such as chemsex drugs and drugs designed in laboratories known as new psychoactive substances. Some of these were previously sold openly in high streets and were known as legal highs with names such as Spice, but the trade has been driven underground after they were banned in May 2016.

The Home Office survey found that 7.8 per cent of people in the West Midlands said they had taken an illegal drug at least once over the past year, slightly below the national figure.

One in 16 people in the West Midlands said they had taken cannabis in the past 12 months. One in 47 had taken cocaine. The survey included people aged between 16 and 59. There were 655 deaths in the West Midlands related to drugs misuse between 2013 and 2015. That includes 161 in Birmingham.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: “Since becoming Home Secretary I have seen first-hand how drugs can destroy lives. I am determined to confront the scale of this issue and prevent drug misuse devastating our families and communities.

“This Government has driven a tough law enforcement response in the UK and at our borders, but this must go hand in hand with prevention and recovery.

“This new strategy brings together police, health, community and global partners to clamp down on the illicit drug trade, safeguard the most vulnerable, and help those affected to turn their lives around. We must follow through with our commitment to work together towards a common goal: a society free from the harms caused by drugs.”

The drugs strategy won’t work. It totally fails to address a key problem... Liberal Democrat health spokesman, Norman Lamb