Alcohol and substance misuse

Alcohol and drug use can carry significant risks to health and wellbeing, both in the short and the long-term. Short-term impacts of substance use include an increase in risk of injury, infectious diseases, and overdose. Long-term impacts include cancers, liver disease, heart disease, and mental health problems. Both alcohol and drug use pose a significant risk of dying prematurely.

The number of deaths attributable to alcohol or drug poisoning has slowly risen in the last few years in both Hackney and the City of London, according to data from the Office of National Statistics. Furthermore, recent changes in the local drug supply have caused certain types of illicit drugs, including heroin, benzodiazepines, and crack cocaine, to be more harmful. Alcohol and drugs can also cause harm to individuals and communities beyond just those who use them. The Office for National Health Improvement and Disparities estimates that alcohol-related harms in England total more than £27 billion in social and economic costs each year and illicit drug-harms total more than £10 billion each year.

Both alcohol and drug use, as well as alcohol and drug dependency, are influenced by a wide variety of personal and social factors including trauma, social isolation, community norms, socioeconomic status, housing status, and poor mental health. As such, substance use must be addressed in tandem with other needs to reduce harms caused to the individual and to the community as a whole.

Below you can find a number of documents identifying the local population needs. Please note that this list will be updated as and when the new information becomes available.

Hackney and the City of London reports

External resources