Alcohol Help

Norfolk County Council Trading Standards Officers are warning consumers not to purchase an illegal brand of vodka, called Drop Vodka, when buying alcohol this Christmas.

Trading Standards analysis of a bottle of Drop Vodka, which was handed to the department by a Norwich resident, has shown that the product contains Chloroform and Isopropanol.

Neither are a constituent of vodka, with prolonged exposure to Chloroform linked to a heightened risk of developing cancer in some people – with Isopropanol a product often used in cleaning fluids.

Trading Standards Officers have been working hard to remove counterfeit and potentially unsafe products found to be on sale in the county throughout the year.

The warning about Drop Vodka follows on from a call to residents earlier in the year when Officers warned of another brand of vodka containing dangerous chemicals; that was believed to have been produced from vehicle antifreeze and had been treated to remove its colourants and markers.

It was difficult to distinguish this product, falsely labelled as Glen’s Vodka, from the genuine examples of this popular brand of vodka – apart from the fact that the counterfeit product had a cloudy residue. The counterfeit vodka was not distilled from grain spirit but manufactured using vehicle antifreeze chemicals, posing significant dangers to consumer health.

On other occasions this year, Officers have also seized counterfeit Gin, Jacob’s Creek wine and Champagne and have similar concerns about their production methods.

Ann Jackson, Senior Trading Standards Officer at Norfolk County Council, said:

“The public should be aware that counterfeit goods are not only depriving legitimate businesses and brands of revenue but products such as fake alcohol have the potential to kill.

“Test results have shown that Drop Vodka contains harmful chemicals and residents should avoid buying or consuming this brand.

“As has been the case with the counterfeit Glen’s Vodka and Jacob’s Creek that we have seen in Norfolk this year, other counterfeit alcoholic products are harder to identify as not being the genuine product.

“Residents should always look to buy from reputable traders and if in doubt as to a product’s authenticity they should study the label carefully, check for spelling mistakes, check if all the bottles of the same brand look identical and judge whether they are filled to the same level.

“If residents believe a product to be counterfeit, they can report it to Consumer Direct on 0845 04 05 06.”

Norfolk County Council
County Hall
Martineau Lane
Norwich
Norfolk
NR1 2DH

East Coast Recovery, Lowestoft
Treatment of drug and alcohol addiction through a residential rehabilitation programme.

About us:

We offer 4, 6 and 12 week alcohol programmes which may include a full detoxification tailored to each individual’s needs.

East Coast Recovery is based in Lowestoft, Suffolk on the East coast of England. We believe in holistic treatment methods for alcohol and drug addiction. We use a combination of proven methods, principally the Twelve Step recovery programme and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). We also offer continuing recovery programmes

The methods of alcohol treatment at East Coast Recovery are holistic. They are underpinned by the Twelve Step programme of recovery and incorporate elements of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). We also offer acupressure, meditative techniques and nutritional guidance. Numerous recreational activities, including bowling, volleyball on the beach, swimming, boating on the Norfolk Broads, sea-going fishing trips, rock-climbing and various forms of fitness training are also available.

The Twelve Step Programme has been successful in freeing millions of individuals from alcohol addiction since 1937. Over the decades it has proved be the most effective means of achieving a stable, contented and sustained recovery. The greatest advantage of this approach is that, throughout the world, Anonymous Fellowships have been established to provide free, accessible and consistent support for anyone who may need it. This means that, after leaving treatment, our graduates become members of a worldwide network of mutual help and support. The Fellowships provide 24-hour helplines. There are also many other benefits in being a member of the world-wide network of 12 Step support fellowships. You will meet numerous people who understand your difficulties because they share in your struggle with alcohol addiction. Some will be newcomers like you. Others may have been in successful recovery for many years. Many of them will probably become lifelong friends. You will probably find a fellowshiP?sponsor? who can help and guide you through every step of your recovery programme. There are now more than 8000 regular 12 Step fellowship meetings throughout England, Scotland and Wales. This means that, when you return home after completing your treatment, you will almost certainly be able to find help and support, free of charge, in your own local area.

Our alcohol programmes also incorporate Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). This powerful therapeutic instrument proceeds from the general assumption that our feelings and behaviours are directly influenced by our thoughts. Once we become aware of our faulty and self-defeating thought patterns, we can begin, gradually and safely, to replace them with more positive and effective ideas and behaviours.

Contact Details:

East Coast Recovery
Imperial Buildings
Bevan Street East
Lowestoft
Suffolk
NR32 2AA

Telephone: 01502 587269

Hebron Trust, Norwich
Supportive community environment in which to detox and rehabilitate from drug and alcohol dependency

About us:

Hebron House is a safe, nurturing and intensively supportive community environment in which to detox and to rehabilitate from drug and alcohol dependency and the life-dominating problems that serious substance misuse can cause.

As a resident you will remove yourself from your immediate environment and join up to nine other women aged 18-45 who share the common goal of recovery. By leaving home you will break free from old contacts and by joining a sheltered community you will be able to focus fully on your recovery without distraction.

In recovery we recognise that while the main problem is substance misuse, there are multiple and complex problems that lie behind the dependency which need to be addressed. You will have the opportunity to begin to address these problems in the context of a highly structured and timetabled programme that focuses on self-help techniques, one-to-one counselling and a combination of life stories, individual work and one-to-one and group therapy.

We offer space and time for reflection on and recollection of past trauma and dysfunction. Even though the treatment is highly structured, we offer each person an individual and flexible structure of care.

The community which Hebron aims to create is supportive and affirmative based on respect, openness, honesty, trust, choice and a willingness to change. We operate on shared responsibility and community meetings where you will take part in joint decision making, discussion of problems and facing issues in order to solve them, taking responsibility for your own actions, gaining interpersonal skills and ways of dealing with conflict and behavioural control that embody principles of recovery.

In deciding if you are eligible for placement at Hebron House we consider, among other things, long term or out of control use of drugs or alcohol. The most popular drugs of choice are alcohol, heroin, benzodiazepines and stimulants, though we cater for any drug misuse and polydrug use as well. We also consider clients with deteriorating physical health, complex or deteriorating mental health problems, self-harm or suicide attempts, chaotic lifestyle, repeated offending, unsatisfactory housing, history of physical or sexual abuse, eating disorders, failure of previous interventions and time spent in custody or care. We would also consider the appropriateness of an all-female setting. As one of the few specialized women-only treatment centres in the country we recognise that the needs and expectations of women in recovery are different to those of men and without access to a women-only setting, some women will not recover.

We may not be able to accept some women:

• who are not fully mobile or who cannot manage their own self care or who are unable to participate fully in the normal household routine
• who have a clearly diagnosed psychiatric illness that requires maintenance medication
• who have serious personality problems (not directly related to addiction) characterised by poor impulse control, violent/aggressive or extremely anti-social behaviour, compulsive self-harm etc. In order to benefit from being at Hebron House clients must be able to be integrated into the household community without putting other residents at risk and be able to fully co-operate with the programme.

We may not be able to accept some women for detoxification:

• who have serious medical complications. Acutely ill referrals and those with chronic medical conditions which may become unstable during detox will require hospital detoxification.
• Who have a history of fits. These as well will require hospital detoxification prior to being admitted to Hebron House.
• Who are using more than the benzodiazepine equivalent of 100mg diazepam daily.

We will not take women:

• who have had an arson conviction in the past seven years
• who have a history of violence which is not related to their drug or alcohol use
• who are pregnant and need to detoxify

While all of our staff and volunteers are Christian, we neither require residents to be Christian nor do we pressure them into making any kind of religious commitment. We do ask, however, that they are open to the spiritual principles on which our way of life and our recovery treatment is based. We offer places without discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, philosophical belief, sexual orientation or social class.

Contact Details:

Hebron Trust
12 Stanley Avenue
Norwich
Norfolk
NR7 0BE

Telephone: 01603 439905