NCJ Number
159471
Date Published
1994
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses treatment and education directed at young drug users who are not opiate addicts.
Abstract
The Lifeline Project in Manchester identified a new group of potential clients among young people attending rave dance venues, young people using a range of drugs including ecstasy, LSD, and amphetamines. A cartoon leaflet series was designed to attract this group. Experience showed their problems were mainly legal, though later psychological and physical problems emerged. As a group dedicated to lively enjoyment, these young people require a different treatment and educational approach than do opiate addicts. The task of attracting these newer users of drugs comprised four stages: (1) obtaining a clear idea of who they were and the key ways in which they differ from traditional opiate users; (2) deciding how to advertise the Project's service; (3) assessing the new clients' needs; and (4) deciding how to address those needs. While a drug worker's typical day's work with an opiate user might be dedicated to encouraging those in charge of writing prescriptions to get on with it, work with this new group might involve giving legal advice to a young, recreational amphetamine user; or deciding whether an individual is suffering a temporary post-hallucinogenic experience or a truly psychotic episode, while convincing both their families that drug use does not mean social or psychological pathology.