Dominating my Google alerts today, a reluctance to credit improvement and complete neglect of what the SNP Government has done:
The Scottish Government has two achievements which must be given at least some of the credit for this positive trend.
First it has maintained target-busting targets in treatment:
From Public Health Scotland in June 2023:
7,716 referrals to community-based services started treatment during the quarter. Overall, 92% involved a wait of three weeks or less. Nationally, the Standard was met for referrals to community-based services across all substances: problematic use of drugs (95%), co-dependency (93%) and alcohol (90%).
The target for drug and alcohol treatment has been met for five years, every quarter:
Second, it introduced the National Naxolone Programme in 2011/12 which is reported to be saving around 1 400 lives each year:https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/news/naloxone-kit-supply-may-have-saved-almost-1400-lives-in-2020-report-finds/embed#?secret=bcJicwBagK#?secret=OAa0V5s46i
These two achievements have had little to no media recognition.
So, one hand-tied, the Scottish Government has had to work within the constraints of the devolution settlement to do what it can to reverse a trend started in the Thatcher era, neglected in the New Labour era and then dumped on the SNP in government from 2007 without the authority to tackle it properly. The evidence is below.
Within five years of the Thatcher government’s ‘restructuring’ of Scotland’s economy, with sudden heavy industry shut-downs leading to mass unemployment, addiction, primarily in those communities where the young had few alternative prospects, began to soar. See these data from the National Records of Scotland:
These data show a doubling of addiction under the Conservatives, between 1992 and 1993, and a near ten-fold increase toward the end of the decade.
The Conservative Government response was further criminalising of drug abuse victims.
By 2002, after 5 years of New Labour rule, deaths had grown to 280 per year and by 2007, when the SNP inherited the problem, they almost doubled and reached 455:
The longer term effect had been the creation in the 1990s of a large number of now older drug users whose lives are inevitably shortened and which have come to the end in the last ten years.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
So then basically the obvious pattern is one where previous and current interference and involvements via UK parties is , via the media here, omitted, diminished and thus usually subjected to a news blackout….while the pattern adopted by the SAME media here, against the SNP, is the opposite….seems fair…but only if, that is, you are one who supports the UK being sustained ….meanwhile the ‘victims’ in any unfortunate and sad situations must be treated as fair game and too political fodder of both the media and opposition parties, who together, want to resolve what they see as the real problem and threat to any situation within their UK….that is a certain party in Scotland….as in the SNP……
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This augurs well for the future.
If only the UK government would listen!
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The most important information in this article is that the figures for the number of drug addicts and the number of deaths in drug addicts and other addictions for England is not available.
We know already that this is a Westminster government trick they commonly use this trick against Wales Scotland and NI they did it during covid they they do it for various parts of the NHS they do it for economic output it’s all a cover up for Englands failings so just like covid when we eventually discovered that real covid infections and deaths for England were much much higher than Scotland per 100 thousand we will also one day find out that there are many many more drug addicts and alcoholics per 100 thousand in England than there are in Scotland and many many more deaths too.
It’s all part of Englands propaganda war on Scotland and Wales and NI
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