Frequently Asked Questions

How can you tell if someone is taking drugs?

It can be difficult to tell if someone is taking drugs, as the signs and symptoms of drug use can also be signs and symptoms of other things as well. Signs might be mood swings, lack of appetite, extreme tiredness, changes in appearance, but there is nothing unusual about this happening in teenage years so it is wrong to jump to conclusions. More obvious signs might be finding drugs paraphernalia but even then, be careful not to jump to conclusions. Rather than guessing or making judgments about someone it is far better to talk to the person about the changes you see in them, it could well be something else that is causing them. Jumping to the wrong conclusion with someone can be very upsetting and harmful to your relationship.

Does cannabis lead to taking stronger drugs?

This is a tough one, and a question for which there is no simple answer. Most people that use heroin have used cannabis, but only a small percentage of people that smoke cannabis actually go on to use heroin. If you smoke cannabis, you will not automatically become a heroin addict. It basically depends on the person. Taking Cannabis may open up the opportunity to get other drugs but this does not mean that someone will take those opportunities. People draw lines in different places. A person who breaks the law by speeding in their car is not necessarily going to break the law in other ways such as breaking into your home. For them, speeding is permissible but stealing is not, they have drawn a line in their approach to the law. It is the same with cannabis. It is not inevitable that because someone uses cannabis that they will then use Class A drugs because they may choose to draw the line of acceptability at cannabis.

What kind of help does the Young People's Substance Misuse Service Offer?

The Young People's Substance Misuse Service is able to work with anyone under the age of 18 who has developed problems because of their use of alcohol or drugs.

We take a holistic approach to the young people we work with. That means we will care about all aspects of a person's life and try and help with them. This could be problems at home or school, problems with relationships, wider health issues, mental health, etc.

We try and make ourselves as available to young people as possible and rather than expecting a person to travel from anywhere in the county to our office in Gloucester, we will meet with young people in safe locations near where they live and which are comfortable to them.

Initially our workers will meet with a young person informally to talk about what the issues are and to assess a course of action in agreement with the young person to tackle these issues. Constant support is offered as workers help the young person to look at how to stay safe whilst using substances, how to reduce and abstain from use and how to cope with cravings and situations that might want to make a person use substances again. This work is normally carried out by the Gini outreach team. (Who's your Gini?)

Sometimes, with certain substances like Heroin and Alcohol, medical help can be offered to do deal with physical withdrawal from these substances. We have a nursing team that works alongside the Gini outreach workers to do this. We run clinics with a Consultant so that a young person can get the specialist help they need. Through this consultant we also have links into the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service when their expertise is required.

An additional service that we offer is work with families. There are sometimes occasions where things in the family have got bad and the environment at home isn't helping and may even be a contributing factor to the use of substances by a young person. We have a specialist family worker who is able to get involved in these situations. She helps families to communicate and support each other whilst the substance use issues are dealt with. This worker will also help with any key relationships where there is difficulty.

We have an obligation to protect all young people we work with as best as we can and we try to ensure a safe and positive experience with lots of support. Information is kept confidential within the service although we have a statutory duty to report child protection concerns. However, this is fully explored with the relevant people before action is taken.

If you cannot get hold of us for advice you can call the national drugs helpline on 0800 77 66 00 or go to the 'talk to frank' web site on www.talktofrank.co.uk. If there is a medical emergency you should contact your GP or go to an Accident and Emergency Department.