Support for Drug Problems

As well as the VSHSP and Vet Helpline the following agencies, private clinics and 12 step groups offer support. If you need in-patient treatment, and do not want to use the VSHSP, you should contact your GP for a referral or approach a private treatment centre in the UK or abroad directly yourself. A database of UK treatment centres is available from the National Treatment Agency at http://www.nta.nhs.uk/about_treatment/treatment_directories/residential/resdirectory_f.aspx

12 questions that may help you to decide whether you have a problem with drug misuse:

1. Have you made attempts to cut down or control your drug use with little or no success?
2. Have you substituted one kind of drug for another, hoping that this would solve your problem?
3. In the past three months, have you used drugs to wake up or fall asleep?
4. Have you ever taken a drug without knowing what it was or what it might do to you?
5. Do you spend a lot of time thinking about using or planning your next fix?
6. Have you ever taken one drug to deal with the effects of another?
7. Have you missed or avoided work or school because of drug use?
8. Is your drug use a cause of domestic difficulties?
9. Have you ever overdosed on drugs?
10. Have you had legal or financial problems as a result of drug use? 
11. Do you continue to use drugs in spite of increasingly serious negative consequences?
12. Does the thought of living without drugs frighten you?

(Source: lifeworkscommunity.com)

Drug Agencies

• National Drugs Helpline ‘Talk to Frank’
  
  Tel: 0800 77 66 00
  Website: www.ndh.org.uk
  
  
• DrugScope   
   
  The UK's leading independent centre of expertise on drugs: their aim is to inform policy development and reduce drug-related risk.
  Website: www.drugscope.org.uk

Private Clinics

The names of 3 clinics that are rated highly by the VSHSP are given here but there is a very broad selection of clinics available and the VSHSP National Co-ordinator.
Tel: 07946 634220 is available to discuss your options with you.  

• Clouds House  
• Stepps   
• Lifeworks  

12 Step Groups

• Narcotics Anonymous
  
  The NA Helpline is often the first point of contact for people needing support and advice about the nature of drug addiction. Anyone from the using addict, their friends and family members through to drug workers and the press are welcome to call.
  
  The helpline is manned by recovering addicts, many of whom called the Helpline themselves at some point and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but if, for some reason, an answer-phone is reached, callers are asked to leave a message and are later contacted discretely.
  Tel: 0845 373 33 66
  Website: www.ukna.org
  
  
• Cocaine Anonymous
  
  12 Step programme for cocaine abuse. Helpline is answered  from 10:00 until 22:00 everyday.
  Tel: 0800 612 0225
  Website: www.cauk.org.uk