Extract from
Westminster Hall debate on Synthetic Cannabinoids:
Reclassification
(Mansfield)
(Con):...Last weekend, The Sunday
Times contained a very interesting article by Rosamund
Irwin, which included an account from a user about how much worse
the outcomes of taking Spice are compared with those of taking
any other drug. In the article, Karen from Blackpool said:
“I’ve been on heroin for over 30 years, I’ve tried every drug,
and Spice is by far the most horrible. You can function on
heroin, but on Spice I thought I was coming off the world.”
In the same article, Karina, who is from the Salvation
Army, says that these drugs
“rob people of their personality, it’s very different to heroin
in that you can still have a conversation with a heroin user, but
when people are on Spice their body is there, but they are not.”
The impact of these drugs is immense and affects towns across the
whole of the UK. Not only is the impact on individuals worse than
that of many class A drugs, but the impact on others and on
public safety is arguably the worst aspect of all...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
Extract from
Westminster Hall debate on Holiday Hunger Schemes
(Stoke-on-Trent North)
(Lab):...In my constituency, a wonderful scheme was
provided by the Salvation Army this summer. We expected
30 children to turn up. The scheme opened at half past eleven. At
10 o’clock there were more than 30 people outside, but there
was not enough food. The wonderful Tesco delivered food and its
staff came to volunteer. During that one session more than 100
people turned up, which shows the level of demand that we
have...
...The initiative was driven by the brilliant and
formidable Carol Shanahan, whom the Minister has had the pleasure
of meeting. My heroine, the managing director of Synectic
Solutions, has ensured that we bring together as many people as
possible, and she has enlisted the support of charities,
volunteers and organisations across my constituency, to turn the
pilot into a real project. I am indebted to each and every one of
them: Synectic Solutions, the Port Vale Foundation Trust,
StreetGames, Swan Bank church, North Staffordshire Allotment
Network, Root’n’Fruit, the Salvation Army, City
catering public health, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, YMCA North
Staffordshire, Engage Communities, the Stoke City Community
Trust, Netbiz, Purple Cow—interesting name—and Stoke-on-Trent
Foodbank, which all supported the project. If anything shows the
importance of all the voluntary groups coming together, it is the
list I just read...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
