This would normally be right up there as a headline story, is still available if you look for it, and was briefly prominent last night but has now disappeared from their headline stories at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/scotland
It seems also to be of no interest to Reporting Scotland nor to any of the other BBC nations. The Herald had it up last night but it’s go from their front page today. You can still see the Herald piece at: https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23272208.lives-line-sharp-rise-suspected-drug-deaths-scotland/ but it’s gone from any prominence on their site.
I did post ‘Is the dramatic fall in Scotland’s drug deaths for 2022 being hidden?’, 12 hours ago. Influence? Moi?
It was a strange one basing the alleged increased on this:
In the first nine months of last year, figures published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) showed a 21% reduction in the number of fatal overdoses.
However, numbers began to rise in later months, with 109 deaths in November alone.
Drug policy minister Angela Constance said the number of suspected drug deaths is “still far too high”.
The PHS Rapid Action Drugs Alerts and Response (Radar) quarterly report showed 109 people had died from suspected drug deaths in November.
This is higher than the same month in both 2021 (89) and 2020 (93).
The report states that suspected drug deaths increased between October and November but figures for October were not included.
This is a quarterly report for October-December 2022. Why on earth would we not see the full data before suggesting a trend?
Talking-up Scotland 
More people die on average in the winter than the summer. The years full statistics are needed or more over time. To reveal a trend. Did less evoke take drugs over Covid. Crime dropped. People on drugs could have been ill with Covid
Dying of complications. Drugs are available on the internet. Painkillers etc.
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The Record has dropped it too: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/suspected-drugs-deaths-scotland-sharply-29038849
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However the Scotsman has a “Scotland Bad” story to exult about on its front page lead. Apparently Scots are ‘one-third more likely to suffer strokes than elsewhere’.
So, the warning is clear: vote independence and you will suffer a stroke!
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Yeh, like that Transient Islamic Attack I had.
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Totally OT – In comments to an article “Sweeping corruption out of politics” on Richard Murphy’s blog, this interesting link was posted https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/prigozhin-government-russia-ukraine-hack-libel-slapp/.
Bad enough that honest journalism can still be disrupted or legally threatened by those with enormous wealth (much as Zahawi in recent times over exposure of his HMRC “carelessness”), but when it is facilitated by government departments circumventing their own policies over sanctioned individuals in Russia, it stinks of corruption not carelessness.
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Further proof that the old adage “one rule for the rich and another for the poor” is hopelessly out of date. It’s now “no rules at all for the ultra-rich”.
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Aye, but consider that’s but ONE exposed only because a journalist refused to be cowed, but ended up with humungous costs to pay off for the privilege.
The same can be equally applied to the Zahawi affair where his lawyers threatened all and sundry who were continuing investigation, now that it’s hit mainstream media his power is neutered.
Yet your old adage is perfectly apt – Consider the litany of BBC Ferry stories to cover McColl’s contractual chicanery, or the A&E waiting times…
Even the mafia in Sicily could get away with this in the 1990s, yet in 2023 UK they do.
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“Even the mafia in Sicily” couldn’t “get away with this in the 1990s, yet in 2023 UK they do”
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Yeh, like that Transient Islamic Attack I had.
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Sorry John, but any who contradict the “proposed” view are going to get pressurised big time if not hammered
– Propaganda contractors are ten a penny these days and making millions off covering government arses, it’s such a large area – As Theresa Coffey regularly proves…
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I wonder what prompted all 3 media outlets to drop the story so quickly but I also wonder how they all came to have similar stories in the first place. Some form of co-ordination or picked up from another source, coincidence or what?
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The stories appear simultaneously and disappear simultaneously, that is no mere accident orchestration by direction…
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