Understanding Drug Use and Harm in West Sussex
Following the new UK drug strategy, West Sussex County Council is committed to reduce drug demand in West Sussex. To be able to reduce drug demand, we need to understand the drivers of the demand and what makes people vulnerable to drug use, just then, we can develop actions with multi agency partners to have a real impact reducing the vulnerabilities in the community.
Multi-agency working groups have already been created across West Sussex to support individuals and communities to overcome the issues which can lead to cycles of continued drug use. A series of activities are already underway, and we need to better understand the lives of residents in the area, so that more targeted support can be put in place.
This is part of the West Sussex Combating Drugs Partnership to tackle the drug demand and minimise the harm and exploitation caused by drugs. WSCC and the community safety leads for each area in West Sussex have been working together to carry out these surveys to understand the opinion and experience of drug misuse across different groups in the community.
What we are asking is to give us your views and experience on issues related to drug use whether you are a professional engaging with people with drug use issues, a treatment service user affected by it or a resident in the community, with your help and support, we can have a better understanding of the problems affecting different areas of West Sussex and identify vulnerabilities.
Some of the questions ask about sensitive issues surrounding drug use, but we will not use your responses to identify you or attempt to contact you in any way. You do not have to answer any questions you do not want to, and your responses will not affect any service provision you currently receive. The WSCC Public Health and Social Research Unit will analyse all the completed surveys and produce a report containing the results.
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