Why has Scotland got such a huge drug problem?

Sunshine duration average January

One in 10 people would prove positive for contact with cocaine despite never sniffing it.
I remember reading this some years ago, 2018 infact.
That’s how prevalent the drug is. What would be the figure now 🤷‍♀️
inews.co.uk/news/science/cocaine-on-the-fingers-of-one-in-10-people-137522

Different angles of sun's rays

petra

One in 10 people would prove positive for contact with cocaine despite never sniffing it.
I remember reading this some years ago, 2018 infact.
That’s how prevalent the drug is. What would be the figure now 🤷‍♀️
inews.co.uk/news/science/cocaine-on-the-fingers-of-one-in-10-people-137522

Oh blinking loads. My nephew said he was in the minority at uni

Casdon

I don’t think that’s how it works with drugs. They wait for young kids coming out of school, and it is seen as cool to try them.

I think it’s more peer pressure tbh.

I'm not going to comment on why Scotland has a significant drug problem because, frankly, I don't know enough about it. But so many of the comments on here judging life in Scotland are so ignorant and ill-informed. We are not all living in a dark, miserable abyss of poverty and unemployment! Far from it! Generally we live in a much gentler, quieter, more respectful society, often in beautiful natural surroundings, but also benefitting from cultured and vibrant cities equal to any in the south of England. The weather is not the same as in the south of England but we have pleasant seasons too. I'm English but I moved my family here for what I consider to be a much better quality of life. Some Scottish people choose to move away but many people also choose to move here!

I don’t have the answer but guessing it’s a combination of things like the awful weather, ugly social housing in towns and cities, high unemployment and heavy drinking being almost a tradition in Scotland.

I have Scottish relatives and one of them is a recovering alcoholic. He is very lucky to still be here thanks to his family tracing him, caring for him and paying for him to go to rehab in another country as everything in the UK failed.

Elegran

It may be the weather, it may be genetic, but another factor could be that the further north you go, the less actual light arrives per year on the northern land surface than on more southerly parts. That light is less in quality as well as in quantity. Because of the curvature of the earth, each ray of light falling on Scotland has to travel a longer path through the atmosphere than the ones falling on Devon or Cornwall - the difference is even greater on the places between the two tropics, either side of the equator where their path is perpendicular, or nearly so.
People in Scandinavian countries have a reputation for heavy drinking - and also for depression. That and Scotland's drug-taking levels probably share similar causes why some of them need to bolster their jollity level with stimulants.
I have some maps/pics, but for some reason they won't load. I'll try again in ten minutes or so.

There was a lot of Scandinavian DNA brought to Scotland in the past. Maybe a genetic link?.

Hilda123

I'm not going to comment on why Scotland has a significant drug problem because, frankly, I don't know enough about it. But so many of the comments on here judging life in Scotland are so ignorant and ill-informed. We are not all living in a dark, miserable abyss of poverty and unemployment! Far from it! Generally we live in a much gentler, quieter, more respectful society, often in beautiful natural surroundings, but also benefitting from cultured and vibrant cities equal to any in the south of England. The weather is not the same as in the south of England but we have pleasant seasons too. I'm English but I moved my family here for what I consider to be a much better quality of life. Some Scottish people choose to move away but many people also choose to move here!

I agree, Scotland has plenty of beautiful natural surroundings. Highly cultural cities too.

Scotland has always had a high rate of alcoholism so drug are just a replacement.

High unemployment is one factor.

The report which has drawn media attention to Scotland's drug problem states:

"better identification and recording of the drugs involved in deaths in Scotland may be a reason for the higher rate of drug-induced deaths in Scotland compared with other countries"

Drug-related deaths in Scotland, 2025 - National Records of Scotland (NRS) share.google/RMcn2wBjCuGWqsbOb

That doesn't answer the question why does Scotland have so many drug deaths, but it does suggest it may not be higher than other countries.

Could be Old Frill.
Statistics work best when like is compared with like.

Elegran

Sunshine duration average January

so, half an hour difference (daily) between Scotland and the south coast of Engl;and.

I think the further north we are, the longer the daylight hours are? Would that not mitigate different angles?

Scotland has longer days in the summer and shorter days in the winter compared to England.

butterandjam

Elegran

Sunshine duration average January

so, half an hour difference (daily) between Scotland and the south coast of Engl;and.

Half an hour's difference? I make it more than an hour's difference - in more than three hours. If you look at colours on that map of the UK, it shows less than 2 hours sunshine a day in parts of Scotland north of a line from Glasgow to Aberdeen, and more than three hours daily on the south coast of England, a difference of more than an hour, and less than two-thirds the amount that the Southrons are getting . Scotland has far fewer of the redder shades, and England and Wales have only a few patches of any of the greenish shades.That is the average of the length of sunshine on all the days of January and all the locations within Scotland. An average covers many individuals readings, and North of the Central Lowlands accounts for far lower ones than the southern half of the country. Wick averages about 1.6 hours of daily sunshine in January.

Of course there are more hours of daylight which do not have actual bright warm sunshine, but only 7 hours a day of that.

I can't find the article I wanted, which has graphs of the total energy contained in that sunshine at different latitudes, after its different lengths of journey through the atmosphere at different angles. So not only are the Scots getting shorter amounts of it, but that short ration is weaker, leading to SAD.

Light deprivation causes more SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder. 9% of Scots suffer from it, a higher proportion than the English.
www.relationships-scotland.org.uk/blog/do-you-get-sad-when-the-seasons-change

Basgetti

I think the further north we are, the longer the daylight hours are? Would that not mitigate different angles?

No, the summer days are longer the further north you go, but the winter days are shorter, due to the earth's axis (pole to pole) not being perpendicular to the sun's rays but tilted over.

Hufferlump Yes, it could be a genetic element.

Hilda123

I'm not going to comment on why Scotland has a significant drug problem because, frankly, I don't know enough about it. But so many of the comments on here judging life in Scotland are so ignorant and ill-informed. We are not all living in a dark, miserable abyss of poverty and unemployment! Far from it! Generally we live in a much gentler, quieter, more respectful society, often in beautiful natural surroundings, but also benefitting from cultured and vibrant cities equal to any in the south of England. The weather is not the same as in the south of England but we have pleasant seasons too. I'm English but I moved my family here for what I consider to be a much better quality of life. Some Scottish people choose to move away but many people also choose to move here!

This last summer, while S England fried and dried up,
Scotland was pleasantly warm , drier than usual but not parched, the grass and trees are still green, farm crops, gardens and allotments thrived. There was no water shortage here.

If this becomes the new reality for UK climate, people in SE England may become desperate migrants escaping drought and misery..

butterandjam

Hilda123

I'm not going to comment on why Scotland has a significant drug problem because, frankly, I don't know enough about it. But so many of the comments on here judging life in Scotland are so ignorant and ill-informed. We are not all living in a dark, miserable abyss of poverty and unemployment! Far from it! Generally we live in a much gentler, quieter, more respectful society, often in beautiful natural surroundings, but also benefitting from cultured and vibrant cities equal to any in the south of England. The weather is not the same as in the south of England but we have pleasant seasons too. I'm English but I moved my family here for what I consider to be a much better quality of life. Some Scottish people choose to move away but many people also choose to move here!

This last summer, while S England fried and dried up,
Scotland was pleasantly warm , drier than usual but not parched, the grass and trees are still green, farm crops, gardens and allotments thrived. There was no water shortage here.

If this becomes the new reality for UK climate, people in SE England may become desperate migrants escaping drought and misery..

SEPA produces weekly water scarcity reports and various areas in Scotland suffered water scarcity throughout this year. There were plenty of wild fires too due to the parched conditions. What this has to do with drug deaths fails me

Hufferlump

Elegran

It may be the weather, it may be genetic, but another factor could be that the further north you go, the less actual light arrives per year on the northern land surface than on more southerly parts. That light is less in quality as well as in quantity. Because of the curvature of the earth, each ray of light falling on Scotland has to travel a longer path through the atmosphere than the ones falling on Devon or Cornwall - the difference is even greater on the places between the two tropics, either side of the equator where their path is perpendicular, or nearly so.
People in Scandinavian countries have a reputation for heavy drinking - and also for depression. That and Scotland's drug-taking levels probably share similar causes why some of them need to bolster their jollity level with stimulants.
I have some maps/pics, but for some reason they won't load. I'll try again in ten minutes or so.

There was a lot of Scandinavian DNA brought to Scotland in the past. Maybe a genetic link?.

There is no known genetic link.

Probably not genetic then.

Comparisons to drug deaths in Scandinavian and other northern countries would be interesting, if anyone has them. The incidence of depression and SADS in those countries (and Scotland) compared with more southerly countries too

The article I linked to earlier posits a connection between the higher SAD incidence in Scotland (9%, compared to 5-6% in the UK as a whole) and the lower light/sunshine levels. More people being affected by SAD probably means more people feeling low, which could result in more people drinking more alcohol or taking more drugs in an attempt to spark up their lives a bit, and hence more people overdoing it and ending in an overdose.

I think someone said that deaths from other drugs (not just the recreational ones) are included in the statistics in Scotland, but not in England. That would increase the numbers.

Some folk in the Orkneys and Shetland have 'Viking' ancestry.
That's for those GNs who seek a genetic link between Scotland and Scandi countries.

Interesting point Elegran.
Wonder how the numbers would compare, if each country used the same method of analysis?