Forensics in joint warning: If the Center for Alcohol and Drug Research closes, we must prepare for more deaths

At the forensic institutes, we perform autopsies on people who have died from an overdose.

We see approximately 250 drug-related deaths each year, and the latest figures show that at least half of the poisoning deaths are due to suspected opioid poisoning.

Now, the government is proposing in the budget bill to remove support of nearly 16 million kroner for the Center for Alcohol and Drug Research. As a result, the center is at high risk of closing from January 1.

At the country's forensic institutes, we are deeply puzzled that a center, which has been essential in research, prevention, and treatment of substance use problems since 1993, is now facing closure.

Through its interdisciplinary work, the Center for Alcohol and Drug Research is among the fastest at detecting trends, such as young people's substance use.

Closing it is a bad idea

Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard (S) announced earlier this year that he is keeping a close eye on whether Danes are developing an increasing opioid misuse.

In April, the Minister stated that he would strongly warn against sitting back and waiting for sufficient evidence so that a university report can conclude that we now have an opioid problem in Denmark.

At the forensic institutes, we would strongly warn against sitting back and waiting for the evidence to show that closing the Center for Alcohol and Drug Research was a really bad idea.

The Minister does not need to look far for reports on Danes' opioid use. The Center for Alcohol and Drug Research has just shown that opioid use has especially increased among the very young.

This has been established through the center's treatment and monitoring tool, which is used by more than 800 substance abuse counselors in 60 municipalities. The tool allows both municipalities and researchers to monitor substance use across different population groups.

No one can take over

The center also develops specific tools – including the treatment method MOVE, which has proven particularly effective for young people with substance abuse – 50 percent are drug-free nine months later.

The National Board of Social Services has implemented the method in 27 municipalities.

No one in Denmark can take over the Center for Alcohol and Drug Research’s projects, contacts, and up-to-date knowledge on which interventions work.

The knowledge that the center creates and disseminates is used directly in municipalities and the healthcare system.

Additionally, the center is an invaluable partner because it acts as a bridge between our – and many others' – research and the practice that takes place close to the citizens.

Cheaper than addiction treatment

It is the Center for Alcohol and Drug Research, and not us as institutes, that has direct contact with municipalities, prevention workers, treatment centers, and the general public.

Unlike many other research institutions, the center communicates with a focus on practice and in Danish, including through magazines, podcasts, and popular dissemination days where the so-called "warm hands" meet current research presented in a context they can directly take home and use.

But it goes both ways, as the center also collects knowledge and delivers it back to research environments like ours.

The state subsidy for the center amounts to 15.7 million kroner annually. This is a negligible amount compared to what municipalities spend on addiction treatment.

Many people – both in municipalities and at universities – are working to mitigate the consequences for the individual citizen and to ensure that threats such as the global opioid crisis do not hit Denmark.

At the forensic institutes, we prevent crime, accidents, suicides, and premature death. The Center for Alcohol and Drug Research supports our work by helping to prevent drug users from paying the ultimate price and ending up on our autopsy tables.

Right now, Denmark ranks 11th on the list of drug-related deaths per capita in Europe.

If the Center for Alcohol and Drug Research closes, we are preparing to see more overdose deaths.

The article was published in Altinget on September 25, 2024.

Contact

Head of Institute Christian Lindholst
Aarhus University, Department of Forensic Medicine
Phone: 20 93 92 23
Email: cl@forens.au.dk

This text is based on machine translation