Drug deaths up over 20% in one year...in Scotland

Indeed there are plenty of youngsters from other European countries getting drunk when abroad and away from their parents.

gilly and GG I'm sure you are both right, but it's certain stag and hen parties, not all, that seem to emanate from our isles, bad enough here, but worse somehow when they export really bad behaviour abroad.

gillybob Totally agree with your post.

I have lived in a Mediterranean Country, and I can assure you there are plenty of local youngsters swigging beer etc., and being rowdy/loutish they just know the places to hide!!!

You just don't see this level of public drunkenness along with anti social behaviour in other European countries

We can't really compare the lifestyles in places like Spain and Greece etc with the UK though, where they have almost guaranteed sunshine in the summer and beyond and people are able to spend a lot of time doing things outside. Here in the NE (for example) we have very few days in the year where we can go to the beach and have a meal outside etc. Therefore when young people go abroad and are hit with wall to wall sunshine they get a little carried away and almost euphoric. I know this does not excuse drunken loutish behaviour at all but just trying to show how its difficult to compare lifestyles.

I completely agree with your last paragraph Iam regarding Brits getting off their faces on booze, particularly abroad, what an embarrassment they are. Apropos of some of the incidents on airlines recently, particularly on Ryan Air, wild horses wouldn't induce me to fly with them, it seems it's apparent that some of these people are well oiled when and before they board the aircraft, in which case I think they shouldn't be allowed on. It must cost the an airline a small fortune in landing charges when they have to make an unscheduled stop to off load troublesome passengers.

I can see the argument for decriminalising drug use as in Portugal. However, is it not a fact that some drug use will cause mental health problems and increased psychotic behaviour and also can lead to increased cases of schizophrenia. Many will have read about the recent fatal stabbing on the train in Surrey, the assailant was a prolific drug user, often that seems to be the case in such incidents. I just wonder how those who would call for decriminalisation, and I can see many arguments for it, would balance that with the potential problems for the users themselves and the safety of the general public.

callistemon, ??

The item on the 10 pm news (BBC) was very interesting, in as much as they pointed out that a large percentage of those who have died have multi drugs in their system, many are on the "methadone" program but then buy Valium on the streets along with heroin and crack.

Which means that the Methadone programs in Scotland are not working.

They also said that there are three generations of families now addicted to and openly taking drugs within the family homes.

X post

Baggs This was widely reported and was one of the main items on the news.
Here is a link to the BBC report:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48938509https://]][[www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48938509

The figure is up by 27% on last year.

According to Scottish government figures, the increase is 27% in the last year but drug related deaths have been increasing over quite a few years.

Most of the increase is in the 35-44 and 45-54 age groups.

The big question is why so many turn to drugs and alcohol when young.

We read youth clubs are closing , nothing for youngsters to do. We didn’t depend on clubs paid for by the council, parents set them up.

Focusing on injecting centres as the panacea for all drug related issues (and conveniently pointing the finger at Westminster because they won't 'let' us have them) is far too simplistic. As others have said, there is far more to be done to prevent people taking drugs in the first place, to control the supply of them and to support addicts to give up - and that's all within the SG's control.

The issue of decriminalisation has been live for over 45 years, probably longer.
In England, there was a period in the late 70's when heroin was prescribed to help addicts come off the drug, with greater success than alternative treatments.

It's fairly clear the problem leading to the high death rate in Scotland is linked to the Trainspotting generation. It's also obvious to any of us that drugs are an increasing problem across the UK so looking for local solutions makes less sense than national ones. In an interview on channel 4 news last night, one of the Conservative politicians in Scotland rejected the Portuguese approach because 'we don't have as many resources'. No we don't because the austerity approach has closed drug treatment services, reduced the police numbers and devastated other public services that used to support drug users.

I'd support decriminalisation, taking the business away from criminal gangs. Prescribe and properly support people trying to give up drugs/alcohol.
Davidhs - nonsense to suggest 'schools' are to blame and that if they educated children about the benefits of employment 'immigrants' wouldn't come and do the jobs.
We have a major problem in the Uk with substance misuse. It's partly cultural, remember those Hogarth cartoons of Gin Alley? Now its strong alcohol and drugs instead of Gin. Look at the way so many get drunk at airports before going on holidays, where they get drunk every day. I enjoy a drink along with the next person, but so many Brits seem to need to get off their heads and see it as socially acceptable. You just don't see this level of public drunkenness along with anti social behaviour in other European countries.

What is your source for the information that drug deaths in Scotland are up 20% in one year, please, paddyann?

Many young people do not want manual work, immigrants do.

Decriminalization would make life much easier for the police but will do nothing to solve the root problem which is hopelessness leading to poverty. It begins in schools where children are not educated to go into employment leading to migrants taking the jobs.

This is just a relevant in deprived areas where lack of work, a life on benefits and no purpose in life. In my area anyone who will turn up on time and do the job has employment and we have lots of migrants as well. I’m not surprised that young people get depressed and turn to drugs, their life expectations are unrealistically increased by the schools.

If you dispute that, why else are 40% of graduates not doing graduate work.

Many years ago I went on a course run by the Police. They argued for decriminalization. They said that someone can lead a normal life taking " clean" drugs rather than the cut drugs on the street. I don't know a lot about drugs but they are the root of so much crime, death and misery that we needed to find new, radical ways to tackle their use and abuse.

I think that many people take drugs and overuse alcohol as a means of temporarily blocking out their reality and I can completely understand this. Imagine you have nothing to look forward to, nothing to aspire to, nowhere to go, no one who cares ? How easy would it be to “make friends” with drugs who might give you some temporary relief from a hopeless situation?

It can’t all be put down to deprivation (although obviously that is a factor) as I live in one of the most deprived areas in the country and we do not have a drug problem .

Petra interesting that you mention Portugal - just last week a Portuguese colleague talked about this.

From what I understand the de-criminalising was accompanied by a comprehensive programme of needle exchange, social care, HIV prevention etc., and treating the addict as a sufferer not a criminal, and this is why the number of deaths has decreased dramatically.

However the use of drugs has stayed the same, and in some categories risen.

SueD I also read Neil Woods' book, puts a completely different slant on the so-called 'war on drugs'. Certainly, when one drug dealer is taken off the streets, others simply take over that patch. Then there is the aspect that no one likes to acknowledge, namely crooked cops.

Deprived areas in the UK are not far behind Scotland when it comes to drug deaths. Middlesbrough for example, or Redcar, Blackpool. In fact, sadly, many of the coastal towns are the worst off.

I'd reccomend reading Good Cop, Bad War by Neil Woods if you want to understand more about the drugs scene in the U.K. He was undercover police at one time and his stories are hair-raising.

So why aren't the suppliers being caught ?

There has to be a source of supply in order to keep these people hooked ?

Scotland has many more drugs deaths because it has many more drug users than elsewhere. It would be useful in the first place to look into why that is so. I don't buy the deprivation argument. Plenty of other areas in the UK suffer deprivation but they don't have the same rate of drug use. What's behind that?

It's laughable that the SNP are blaming Westminster when it's the SNP that has presided over the doubling of the death rate while they have had sole powers over health and justice for the last decade. It's their policies and strategies that are at fault, the closing-the-stable-door-after-the-horse-has-bolted drug consumption room issue is a red herring, trying to deflect blame from a problem of their own creation.

Fwiw, I support some sort of decriminalising of drugs, which seems to work in other countries.