It feels that Autumn is now well underway, with the awful storms and clocks going back. In this edition of our newsletter, you can choose to take part in an important survey looking at drug availability on social media being conducted by University College London, find out about the law change on NOS, and the latest shocking statistics on drug deaths for Scotland. 

As always, we are here to support you across Scotland with our resources on alcohol, cannabis or vaping and training sessions delivered by our incredibly knowledgeable and experienced trainer Shona. 

Do get in touch via kate@alcoholeducationtrust.org if we can help in any way.

As we reflect on the impact of our work at The Alcohol Education Trust this year (our year ends on the 30^th September), we are so proud of what we have managed to achieve as a tiny team of nine!

We have enjoyed some fantastic collaborative working with the Inspiring Scotland partner charities this year, with Shona continuing to work closely with youth engagement staff at Aberdeen Foyer, Street League, Enable, FARE and Action for Children. We continue to build staff knowledge and confidence enabling them to be able to support young adults around alcohol and other substances day to day. Our train the trainer alcohol and cannabis workshops have been held for staff working in settings including Motherwell, Easterhouse, the Isle of Lewis, Livingston, Kilmarnock, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Govan, North Uist and Paisley.

In fact, Shona has trained over 320 staff throughout Scotland this year. Other youth charities supported include The Rock Trust, Street Asist, East Lothian Works, Kibble Education and care (Paisley), Dean and Cauvin Young People's Trust, Drylaw Young People's centre, YIP works (Cumnock), Care Visions (Fife), Room 4 U Fostering, Glasgow Girls' Football FC, Tullochan and East Lothian Council.

We always feel so lucky to meet new organisations and learn about their fascinating work and volunteering.

As you know, we are able in most cases to support you without charge – our resources and training cover all aspects of alcohol and cannabis awareness, right up to age 25 – and more recently cover vaping, the law, the effects social and physical, social norms, drink spiking, how to make safer choices, consent and vulnerability. We support young people, their parents and carers, teachers and youth professionals through Shona, who visit schools and trains professionals day to day across Scotland. You can contact Shona via shona@alcoholeducationtrust.org

488 responses from those receiving alcohol or cannabis training this year have rated the AET training and resources at 9/10 overall. Confidence in delivering alcohol and cannabis education to ages 16+ rose from 5/10 before the session to 8/10 afterwards. 79% of attendees felt confident in supporting young people in where to go for help around alcohol following the session and 74% around cannabis.

Some examples of testimonials received are:

"Shona is an excellent presenter and kept all of us interested for the whole session. She was enthusiastic, which transferred to those of us being trained and was clear and concise. I feel that Shona is on hand if we need any further advice."

"Love that we get a pack and this will be so useful in the groups I work with. Shona was so knowledgeable and experienced and helped me understand without any issues."

"Shona delivered the training excellently by making it engaging and enjoyable “

“Excellent training, great resources and relevant to my work.”

“I realised how little I knew so it was interesting to hear about norms for usage and facts.”

According to a new report from National Records of Scotland, people in the most deprived areas were almost 16 times as likely to die from drug misuse as those in the least deprived. Most deprived death rates twice as high | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)

Alcohol harms continue to be one of Scotland’s most pressing public health and social issues as shown by the National Records for Scotland (NRS 2023), with an increase from 1,245 alcohol-specific deaths in 2021 to 1,276 in 2022. More positively, alcohol related hospital admissions have reduced significantly since their peak in 2007 of 43,000 to 33,000 in 2022 However, people in the most deprived areas of Scotland were six times more likely to be admitted for an alcohol-related condition than those in the least deprived areas (991 compared to 153 per 100,000 population), making our work with partner charities in supporting the most deprived, marginalised and isolated young adults into work and improving their life chances absolutely essential.

The need for our cannabis education and training to protect and enable young adults to understand the risks of use is emphasised by Public Health Scotland figures (2023) showing that cannabinoids are responsible for a third (29%) of new psychiatric admissions (higher than opioids at 26%) in Scotland. In the Western Isles, they are responsible for one in every two admissions, 40% in Mid & East Lothian (49%), Fife (42%) and East Renfrewshire (40%).

Looking more broadly, half of the patients with a drug-related hospital stay lived in the most deprived areas in Scotland and drug-related deaths (DRDs) have increased annually across Scotland (2014 - 2020) consolidating Scotland's place at the top of European drug-related mortality charts.

Accurate data on recent alcohol and drug use by young people in Scotland is hard to obtain since the last SALSUS survey results of 2019, which found that 12% of 15 year olds reported using drugs in the last month. Our most recent worries include vaping, especially illicit vapes that are high in nicotine and have been found to contain up to 200 chemicals such as THC, spice and nickel. 50% of 17 year olds have vaped according to ASH. Also on our radar is poly substance use, such as combining Buckfast with cocaine and the rise of ‘street benzos’.

So our work in Scotland ensuring that young people's life chances are not derailed by underage drinking, excess alcohol or substance misuse is key - as is our ability to respond to the issues that challenge them change day to day.

There has been a 40% drop in the number of Scots receiving treatment for drinking problems prompting a rise in calls for a legal right to access it.

In 2021-22, a total of 19,617 people accessed alcohol treatment programmes versus 32,556 in 2013-14.

If a proposed bill is passed, it would give a legal right to receive treatment to everyone with a drug or alcohol problem.

A Researcher, Ashley Fuller, who spoke at our Newcastle conference in June, from University College London is conducting a survey looking at the experiences of teenagers using social media and how seeing drugs on these platforms might affect them. The hope is to ensure that young people can be kept safer around drugs both off and online. The research aims to understand young people's experiences better and to see what can be done to improve safety with the platforms being used.

Please do get involved and ask the young people you know (aged 13-25) to have their say!

You can find out all you need to know and the link to the survey via Survey instructions and materials - Alcohol Education Trust

Participants should read the information sheet before being presented with the survey.

Please do contact kate@alcoholeducationtrust.org if you would like further information.

Nitrous oxide (NOS), used by about 4% of 16 – 24 year olds in the last year, will become illegal for recreational use from 8 November 2023. The Home Office have published key information about the changes here: MEDIA FACT SHEET: NITROUS OXIDE BAN - Home Office in the media (blog.gov.uk)

Nitrous oxide is a colourless gas and while it has legitimate uses in medical, culinary, industrial, and other fields, it can also be used as a recreational drug by inhalation.

It was already illegal to produce, supply, import or export NOS for psychoactive purposes under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. But the law has been updated.

From 8th November 2023:

• Possession: Having nitrous oxide without a valid reason is illegal and is now categorised as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. If found in possession with the intention of inhalation for psychoactive effects, individuals could face an unlimited fine, community punishment, or a caution. Repeat offenders could face up to two years in prison.
• Supply or Production: The penalty for supplying or producing NOS has doubled, with a potential prison sentence of up to 14 years.

The Children's Society have recently published their latest Good Childhood Report for 2023 which looks into how children in the UK feel about various aspects of their lives. You can read the full report via Children’s wellbeing in the UK 2023 - What Works Wellbeing