Midlothian Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Support

Our free, friendly, confidential and non-judgemental drug and alcohol service is for young people (aged 12 to 21) in Midlothian.

We offer:

• one to one support for young people who want advice, info and support about their drug and/or alcohol use
• group work programmes that we run with other charities and social work, health, youth groups and schools
• education sessions in schools as part of personal and social education PSE
• training for workers in Midlothian who want to increase their knowledge about young people’s drug and alcohol use and associated risk-taking behaviours

You don’t need to be addicted to drugs or alcohol to be referred for support

Our staff can meet you on your own to give you info, advice or support about drug and alcohol use. And the kind of support they’ll offer will be tailored for you.

If you need a bit more information to help keep you safer that’s what we’ll give you.

or

If you want to cut down and not get into so much bother at home, with your friends, at school or in the community, then that’s what we’ll help you with.

or

If you want to stop using, we can help with that too.

What your sessions will be like

The type of sessions you’ll have depend on the kind of support you need. You might:

• learn about the impact drugs and alcohol have on you
• figure out ways to stop or cut down
• talk about how things are going

How many sessions you’ll have and how long they’ll last

You’ll agree how often you meet, where and how long for with your youth worker.

It could be once a week or more often than that. And you could meet up for a few weeks, or over the course of several months.

You can talk to us about other things, not just drugs and/or alcohol

We’ll talk about how drugs or alcohol are affecting your life, and help you work out what you’d like to be better.

But young people often also talk to us about their:

• relationships
• money worries
• families
• friendships
• sexual health
• school
• housing
• anger problems

We won’t tell anyone else about your drug use or drinking

We won’t pass on your name, details or any information about you without your permission.

But if we have serious concerns about you, or about another young person’s safety (including dangerous drug use or drinking), we’d have to tell others.

If we do need to break confidentiality, we’ll explain our reasons beforehand and let you know what’s going on.

You won’t have to wait to get support

The young people’s drug and alcohol team doesn’t have a waiting list at the moment.

We aim to meet with young people referred to us for support within 2 weeks of getting the referral. And we’ll do this quicker if we can.

You don’t have to come to Dalkeith

We’re happy to meet you at appropriate meeting places in Midlothian, and at times that suit you.

We can help you if you don’t take drugs or drink alcohol, but have a lot of energy drinks to keep you going and have bother sleeping.
We don’t just help with alcohol and illegal drugs. You can meet with us to look at how many energy drinks you’re drinking, and things that will help with your sleeping problems.

We won’t tell you to stop using cannabis

We won’t tell you what to do. But if we find that your cannabis use is getting out of control, we can give you helpful tips on how to change things for the better.

What you should do if your friends are using drugs a lot and you’re worried about them

Sometimes people who have a drug or alcohol problem don’t think, or refuse to believe, it’s a problem.

If you think your friends have a problem and you want to help them, think about what you’re going to say.

You won’t want to look like you are nagging them but if you can, talk to them, say how you feel and, above all else, listen to what they have to say.

If they are under 21 you could suggest they contact us and talk to one of our staff in confidence about their drug use.

There are also phone lines like Talk to Frank – 0300 123 6600 and Know the Score – 0800 587 5879, which offer free and confidential support.