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Original poster

Why does Scotland have such a massive drugs problem?

184 replies

TheTallOakTrees · 30/07/2021 18:32

3 people die in Scotland every day due to drugs year.
The worse place in Europe.
Why?

OP posts:
Original poster
TheTallOakTrees · 30/07/2021 19:08

@Gingerkittykat

A women I had known since she was 17 died a couple of months ago from a heroin overdose aged 39. She had 4 children but had lost custody of them all, she also had a baby who died when she was young.

Her lifestory is horrific, her parents were heroin addicts who sold the kid's clothes to buy drugs. My friend (her aunt) stepped in and the family moved to my area to start again.

She was a bright girl who fell into drugs. She had a baby at 17, had her removed and then got her back. The other kids followed and they were all removed permanently when they found out the 14 year old was skipping school to care for the young ones while mum was off her face.

She went downhill after her mum died and ended up sleeping rough with her boyfriend before her death. It was so sad to see her begging on the street.

Luckily her kids are now doing well and will hopefully break the cycle.

Her twin brother was also a heroin addict who spent some time in jail, thankfully he seems to be in a better place now.

I live in an village and some parts are rough. I know valium is £1 for a 10mg pill and a lot of people walk round with blue mouths because of the cheap dye in them.

I have no idea why it is so bad here, certainly in the case of the woman I talked about growing up where heroin use was normal contributed to her addiction.

Addicts deserve compassion and support and I wish they got that. As well as rehab to get off the drugs there needs to be more social support so kids who have lived with addicts can see a better life for themselves.

Incredibly cheap and easy to obtain probably means temptation leads to addiction. I do think some people people seem to succumb to addiction more.

I have no idea why, just saw the story and was shocked.

OP posts:
Theythinkitsalloveritisnow · 30/07/2021 19:09

@PicsInRed

A millenium of subjugation and colonialism perhaps?

I mean, what's your guess OP?

Plenty of Scots were involved in the colonialism and subjugating people in the empire, it wasn't the nasty English doing it all while the downtrodden people of Scotland helplessly looked on in horror Hmm
ParkheadParadise · 30/07/2021 19:10

Residential Rehab is difficult to get unless you have the money to go private.

AbsolutelyPatsy · 30/07/2021 19:13

off spring of the tennants lager drinkers

Original poster
TheTallOakTrees · 30/07/2021 19:14

@BrozTito

Sorry when was Scotland subjugated? Or are you talking about Scotlands involvement in Ireland /the empire?
I wondered about this, I know the snp like to ho back 600 years but seriously the drug problem is now and real. Subjugation 🤣
OP posts:
Original poster
TheTallOakTrees · 30/07/2021 19:17

@Theythinkitsalloveritisnow

It's always some English persons fault to some though.

That helps no one.

I couldn't believe more died of drugs than covid yet covid has been everything. Time to focus on drugs and getting people help to quit.

OP posts:
MurielSpriggs · 30/07/2021 19:17

Plenty of Scots were involved in the colonialism and subjugating people in the empire, it wasn't the nasty English doing it all while the downtrodden people of Scotland helplessly looked on in horror Hmm

Reminds me of Nigel Farage's bizarre narrative of the plucky English as a downtrodden people steeped in oppression bravely fighting back to shake off the yoke of tyranny of the occupying EU aggressors Grin

kitkat463 · 30/07/2021 19:18

It has one of largest coastlines in Europe, so easy access for drugs via boats to locations hard to police, reasonable amount or rural deprivation historically young people with not much to do with leisure time and bits of Scotland are dark for most of the time in winter.. I think all contribute

Westchesterarms · 30/07/2021 19:19

I'm English and I love going to Scotland. Drugs are not a problem that's in your face wherever you go so I don't understand why anyone would be worried about going there.

But I don't understand why to some people every problem Scotland has is because of England (I doubt those that are using rest of UK are actually referring to Wales or NI), but everything good in Scotland is because of Scotland. I mean, Scotland has been responsible for its own health care for over 21 years and the SNP has been in control for 10 years. When are you going to hold your own govt responsible?

Original poster
TheTallOakTrees · 30/07/2021 19:19

@MurielSpriggs

Plenty of Scots were involved in the colonialism and subjugating people in the empire, it wasn't the nasty English doing it all while the downtrodden people of Scotland helplessly looked on in horror Hmm

Reminds me of Nigel Farage's bizarre narrative of the plucky English as a downtrodden people steeped in oppression bravely fighting back to shake off the yoke of tyranny of the occupying EU aggressors Grin

Equally stupid.
OP posts:
ElephantOfRisk · 30/07/2021 19:22

I dunno, at the root, poverty, lack of opportunity, shit environments, shit weather but the snp massively cutting the budget for drug treatment is probably the biggest reason, whilst doing nothing to tackle any of the root causes. 10k drug deaths on their watch. Shower of incompetent lying wankers.

ElephantOfRisk · 30/07/2021 19:23

But they are sorry so I'm sure that's great comfort to their families...Hmm

GetTaeFuck · 30/07/2021 19:23

With the addicts around me, it all stems from trauma.

Horehound · 30/07/2021 19:24

Hopefully we will see some change now.

Why does Scotland have such a massive drugs problem?
Original poster
TheTallOakTrees · 30/07/2021 19:27

@ElephantOfRisk

I dunno, at the root, poverty, lack of opportunity, shit environments, shit weather but the snp massively cutting the budget for drug treatment is probably the biggest reason, whilst doing nothing to tackle any of the root causes. 10k drug deaths on their watch. Shower of incompetent lying wankers.
They cut the budget for drug treatment yet have the biggest drug problem in Europe. Seriously if that is accurate someone must hd them to account. How do they get away with that then!
OP posts:
ElephantOfRisk · 30/07/2021 19:27

@Horehound

Hopefully we will see some change now.
Just words though. The figures have been getting worse for years and they continued to cut the budget. we had this exact conversation this time last year so why are we waiting for changes put in place at the beginning of this year?
Original poster
TheTallOakTrees · 30/07/2021 19:29

@Horehound

Hopefully we will see some change now.
It's mainstream news now so about time they acted. Shame they took so long to bother
OP posts:
Hlglu56 · 30/07/2021 19:29

Yes I don’t get this attitude at all. Scotland played a massive role in the British Empire- some of the empire’s best fighters, explorers such as David Livingstone and inventors were Scots. (Not trying to condone imperialism btw).

ElephantOfRisk · 30/07/2021 19:29

They cut the budget for drug treatment yet have the biggest drug problem in Europe. Seriously if that is accurate someone must hd them to account. How do they get away with that then!

It is accurate and some token numpty got the sack last year. They get away with it because of "wheest for Indy". Doesn't matter what they do, a core of the population will keep voting for them to deliver independence.

ElephantOfRisk · 30/07/2021 19:30

It's mainstream news now so about time they acted. Shame they took so long to bother

It was mainstream last year and yet here we are...again...

scaffoldingtheworld · 30/07/2021 19:32

@FlyingScott

DS just heard this in the news and said he doesn’t want to go to Scotland on holiday anymore 😔
Why in earth not? We aren’t all running around smacked out our heads with needles hanging out of our feet and arms.
PicsInRed · 30/07/2021 19:32

Ok, the question is why Scotland and not England, Wales, NI? My guess would be that within Scotland, we have the intersection of the separate historical issues of class, ethnicity and religious sectarianism all intersecting in one place, often in the same families, across generations or even 100s of years.

In the past century for example, schools were segregated by creed e.g. Catholic schools, and structurally this meant fewer opportunities and less resource towards those children. In that one example we have class (working), ethnicity (descendants of 1850s irish immigrants to Glasgow) and religion (Catholic), all at play to impede the chances of even the more clever ambitious to get ahead.

Many people are going to have generations of those issues having materially affected their family's prospects and some will have become hopeless and succumbed to anything which makes them simply not care about the pain of the generational absence of hope.

It's not "genetic". Hmm Give them hope. 🤷‍♀️

FlyingScott · 30/07/2021 19:40

We aren’t all running around smacked out our heads with needles hanging out of our feet and arms
Aren’t you? Oh that’s disappointing 🤣

It’s not so hard to understand how a child is worried by something they hear on the news is it?
If course we’ll still be holidaying in Scotland.

Theythinkitsalloveritisnow · 30/07/2021 19:44

@PicsInRed

Ok, the question is why Scotland and not England, Wales, NI? My guess would be that within Scotland, we have the intersection of the separate historical issues of class, ethnicity and religious sectarianism all intersecting in one place, often in the same families, across generations or even 100s of years.

In the past century for example, schools were segregated by creed e.g. Catholic schools, and structurally this meant fewer opportunities and less resource towards those children. In that one example we have class (working), ethnicity (descendants of 1850s irish immigrants to Glasgow) and religion (Catholic), all at play to impede the chances of even the more clever ambitious to get ahead.

Many people are going to have generations of those issues having materially affected their family's prospects and some will have become hopeless and succumbed to anything which makes them simply not care about the pain of the generational absence of hope.

It's not "genetic". Hmm Give them hope. 🤷‍♀️

Ah I think you've got it! NI in particular is well known for its total lack of religious sectarianism affecting peoples life chances and leading to feelings of hopelessness.

Are you actually from the UK? Because you have some weird ideas about it.

irresistibleoverwhelm · 30/07/2021 19:51

Dark early, rainy, restricted job market, housing often poor quality but also way more expensive than it ought to be, limited industries to work in, poor welfare provision, lack of choice and proactive policies in healthcare, take your pick.

Like anywhere in the current UK the cost of living is high, housing is astronomical, but the jobs on offer and the rewards for working hard are low. Bits of the north of England are similar.