Substance use and dependency (drugs)

Wales is unique within the UK as there is a unified substance misuse strategy Working Together to Reduce Harm: The Substance Misuse Strategy for Wales 2008-2018 addressing both drugs, alcohol and poly drug use.

This is consistent with the approach adopted within Public Health Wales. Within Public Health, two divisions, Health Improvement and Health Protection are involved in the substance misuse agenda.

The Health Improvement team in Public Health Wales are working to minimize the misuse of substances at a population level. This includes alcohol, illegal drugs, prescription medication and new psychoactive substances. 

Health Protection emphasises the building of evidence based mechanisms intended for protecting health and well-being, preventing ill-health and prolonging life.  

The teams are experienced and well placed to provide robust, evidence based guidance and information on the range of harms associated with substance misuse, which may also include increased sexual and other risk activity (e.g. crime and incarceration) and associated risk of infection with blood borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections. 

Welsh Emerging Drugs and Identification of novel substances (WEDINOS)

Drug markets are changing. It can be hard to get accurate information and stay safe. WEDINOS tests substances to give individual users and others rapid and accurate information to reduce harms. It is a harm reduction project, providing an anonymous service, and reflects trends in substance use.

WEDINOS publishes monthly and annual reports which cover the project’s analytical findings and insights into the evolving drug landscape in Wales and the broader UK. They feature a range of publications, including monthly bulletins, annual reports, and special topic analyses. You can view the reports published by WEDINOS here.