Background Information:

Some figures from the film

• In the UK an estimated 3,000,000 people are alcohol dependent.
• Every year an estimated 120,000 die as a result of tobacco.
• In relation to illicit drugs, those dependent on heroin and crack cocaine are among the most needy.

Injecting drug users
Many injecting drug users find it hard to hold down a job once they are injecting every day. This often leads to loss of contact with family and homelessness. The drug project at St Anne’s in Leeds is just one of many operating in the UK. The project was born out of a needle exchange scheme. It has approximately 3,000 clients and gets through 330,000 needles in a year and now offers a range of services.

Drugs in the city, drugs in the country
The film focuses on drug problems in an inner city area. It is important to be aware that problems associated with drug use are not just a city problem. There is evidence that there are substantial drug problems in some rural parts of the UK, and that while poverty and deprivation may express themselves differently in rural areas than in cities, there is a link with drug use. Frequently there is difficulty in drug problems being recognised in rural communities, both by the communities themselves, and by city people with romantic notions about country life.

The importance of education
In terms of working with the issues and establishing support, centrally based services are problematic in rural areas because of distance, travelling time and lack of child care facilities. Reluctance to accept services in nearby and rival towns, concerns about confidentiality, stigma, maintaining anonymity, and the blurring of professional and social boundaries, set their own challenges. As in the city, education is therefore essential in helping rural communities recognise and work with the drug problems they face in an appropriate way.

Cocaine and crack
In the short term, both can cause anxiety and tension while using. After use individuals may feel depressed. Can cause convulsions, chest pains and sudden death from heart attack and stroke, as well as breathing and lung damage. In the long term can cause paranoia, hallucinations, aggression and weight loss. Cocaine and especially crack cocaine are highly addictive. Chronic use can also cause severe damage to heart and circulation, brain damage and severe mental health problems.

Heroin
In the short term there is a real risk of drug overdose, possibly leading to coma or death, particularly when mixed with other drugs. In the long term heroin is highly addictive, and larger and more frequent doses may be needed to feel normal. Injecting can damage veins, and sharing needles can spread hepatitis, HIV and other infections.