St Mungo's would welcome the integration of drugs and alcohol into one coherent Government strategy.
Separating these into two distinct issues does not support the majority of our clients - who have multiple difficulties with both drugs and alcohol - and causes problems with access to treatment options. This applies to both statutory and voluntary community-based services, which often treat drug and alcohol dependency as separate issues rather than effects of the same causes.
We also believe that abstinence is a very effective method of treatment for some clients, and that the pathway through residential detoxification and rehabilitation treatment - enabling them to live drug- and alcohol-free lives - is crucial. However, a high percentage of St Mungo's clients are unable to meet the demands of residential treatment and need the opportunity to stabilise their substance use or alcohol use; first through harm-minimisation interventions, and then through treatment such as methadone or subutex prescriptions.
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