Brighton & Hove launches new strategy to reduce drug and alcohol harms

Brighton & Hove City Council has today launched its new Drugs & Alcohol Strategy 2024 – 2030, outlining a city-wide plan to reduce harms, save lives and change attitudes towards substance use.

The strategy focuses on three priorities:

• Disrupting the local drug and alcohol supply chains, reduce the availability of drugs, and tackle and disrupt drug and alcohol related crime.
• Delivering world-class treatment and recovery services
• Achieving a generational shift in demand for drugs and alcohol.

Key actions include increasing access to treatment, improving outreach services, supporting families, and ensuring every person receives compassionate, non-judgemental support.

Councillor Mitchie Alexander, Cabinet Member for Communities, Equalities, Public Health & Adult Social Care, said: “This strategy is about understanding the whole person, not just the symptoms. We know that drugs and alcohol can and do devastate lives, but we also know that with the right support, people can and do recover. This is a whole-city effort to reduce harm, tackle the stigma, and importantly, improve lives significantly across Brighton & Hove.” 

Developed through the Brighton & Hove Combatting Drugs Partnership, the strategy brings together the council, NHS, Sussex Police, our local treatment and recovery services, housing, community groups and people with lived experience. It aims to deliver a compassionate, trauma-informed and non-judgemental approach to one of the city’s most urgent public health challenges. 

According to Health Counts 2024, 20% of adults in Brighton & Hove report using drugs not prescribed by a doctor and not available over the counter in the past year, and just under half of adults (44%) drink at levels outside the ‘low risk’ category. Notably, drug related deaths and harmful alcohol use are both above the England average.  

The strategy also focuses on reducing stigma. Stigma affects many people who experience harms, either directly or indirectly from drugs or alcohol use, when seeking help or accessing services. This could be in the form of direct judgement from other people or health care providers, expectations of stigma and even self-stigma. 

The strategy launch follows the successful Healthy Conversations campaign, which engaged residents in honest conversations about drug and alcohol use and highlighted the importance of listening to lived experience.