Wrexham Substance Misuse Action Team (SMAT) is a subsidiary of the Community Safety Partnership and takes the lead on tackling the issue of substance misuse across the County borough.
It is a partnership between Wrexham County Borough Council (Social Services, Housing, Children & Young People), Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, North Wales Police (Eastern division), Wales Probation Trust, Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham (AVOW), service users and the Welsh Assembly Government. The group meets regularly to implement and develop innovative ways of tackling the multi faceted and complex issues of substance misuse in our local communities.
Wrexham’s substance misuse strategy
Our strategy is in line with the Welsh Assembly substance misuse strategy ‘Working together to reduce harm’
Preventing harm - helping children, young people and adults resist or reduce substance misuse by providing information about the damage that substance misuse can cause to their health, their families and the wider community.
Supporting substance misusers - to improve their health and aid and maintain recovery thereby reducing the harm they cause themselves, their families and their communities.
Supporting families - reducing the risk of harm to children and adults as a consequence of the substance misusing behaviour of a family member.
Tackling availability and protecting individuals and communities - reducing the harms caused by substance misuse related crime and anti-social behaviour, by tackling the availability of illegal drugs and the inappropriate availability of alcohol and other substances.
The following provides brief examples of just some of the services/initiatives commissioned by Wrexham SMAT and/or partners in responding to the issues of substance misuse locally, these include interventions and services funded from SMAPF and other sources:
Adult Treatment and Support services
- Drug Intervention Programme - Home Office funded programme ensures people arrested for specific offences (related to drug use) are drug tested and channelled into treatment services to break the cycle of offending behaviour.
- The Elms local treatment centre - mainstream investment providing multi disciplinary team offering treatment and support to drug and alcohol users to help them overcome their problems and work to more fulfilling futures.
- Alcohol Liaison service - based within Wrexham Maelor hospital ensures alcohol misusers are identified and treated to prevent further hospital admissions or presentations for alcohol related conditions. The service aims to reduce pressure on health systems and prevent further anti social behaviour and violent crime on our streets as a result of ongoing drunken behaviour. It identifies problematic drinkers who normally would be difficult to reach.
- Harm Reduction Outreach service - supports and lessens impact on communities by engaging with hard to reach substance misusers through outreach work.
Children and Young People Prevention, Education, Treatment and Support services
- Drug and Alcohol Education awareness programmes - in schools, youth centres, colleges and universities to prevent todays’ children and young people from becoming problematic drug and alcohol users of the future.
- Peer Education programmes - for young people to educate one another and act as role models
- In2 Change Children and Young Peoples substance misuse team - multi disciplinary team to work with young people who are at risk of or who have developed substance misuse issues. The team work with young people between the ages of 11 and 19 years. The Council take the overall lead for the team in line with youth service provision and wider structures.
- Family Support Project - Project working with families where there is parental substance misuse to lessen the impact and improve outcomes for children.
Initiatives to tackle availability of drugs and alcohol and for enforcement purposes
- Police Intelligence and Operations
- Trading Standards Underage sales enforcement officer - targeting off and on licence premises with the police to reduce availability of alcohol to underage youths and enforce against irresponsible retailers. Also promotes proof of age schemes and developing work to tackle proxy sales (whereby adults purchase alcohol for young underage youths).
- Rapid Response - Joint police and ambulance patrols over the Christmas and busy holiday periods to prevent violent crime and keep the Maelor Accident and Emergency Department free for the most needy by treating minor alcohol related incidents/injuries on the street.