[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

It's kinda gross that the right wing are reducing a serious problem in drug deaths to a tool to bash the opposition with, especially considering that the same people who are pretending to care about these deaths would have treated those addicts with disdain and hostility when they were still alive.

That's one of the biggest issues with the whole thing really. The people who are currently saying "Oh shocking, look at all of the drug deaths" are the same people who would be furious if the SNP started diverting funds from general healthcare/education/roads into addictions services. They'd immediately declare it waste of money and insist that other issues are more deserving. Spending big money on trying to tackle substance abuse isn't popular in the UK... it never has been.

[bitontheslide]

if it's an effective opposition that highlights the issue and gets it more funding, it really doesnt matter what the motivation is

[Tom4784]

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[Tom4784]

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[Oliver_W]

Can't deny that the Scottish government has been failing the addicts. While the problems were caused by Ole Maggie, laying all the blame at her sounds a little bit like when the current Tory government still blames Labour for their own failures.

Either way, it's not something which should lead to Sturgeon's resignation, but it's certainly something she and the SNP need to address.

[Ammi]

…I recall a few years ago when drug deaths were continuing to rise in Scotland, there was talk of a drug death ‘task force’ to be assigned and a huge focus on funding to be available over a period of many years…I don’t know if that’s something that happened …and I wonder if and how much healthcare funding that was allocated for other issues has now maybe had to be used on Covid related healthcare….

…I think also that Ireland/Dublin is somewhere that has shown success in tackling drug related issues…we spoke about that on here quite a few years ago when they followed methods that had, had that same success in other countries…Switzerland/Norway, I think possibly….and when they decriminalised small drug amounts for personal use…


….some excellent posts and thoughts from you TS ….and very much what Dezzy said as well in that this isn’t in any way a political issue …or a criminal issue or an issue with stigmas attached…it’s absolutely a medical/healthcare issue that needs that ‘taskforce’ focus as it surely must be treated as a priority with 20 yrs of rising deaths ….in 20yrs if it hasn’t become a ‘medical emergency’ situation then when will it…how many more years and rising death figures…

[parmnion]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

That's one of the biggest issues with the whole thing really. The people who are currently saying "Oh shocking, look at all of the drug deaths" are the same people who would be furious if the SNP started diverting funds from general healthcare/education/roads into addictions services. They'd immediately declare it waste of money and insist that other issues are more deserving. Spending big money on trying to tackle substance abuse isn't popular in the UK... it never has been.

There is also a rise of 3.8 in england and wales, I am perched.