Readers will know that despite all the evidence showing that Scotland’s tragic drug death rate has its causal root in Thatcherite policies from the 80s through New Labour neglect in the 90s, opposition parties and their media chums still feel able to blame the SNP ‘after 16 years in power.’
Drug deaths have fallen in Scotland in the last three years but that remains, for critics, not good enough.
In only one group, the over 55s who were born and grew up in the industrial and hopeless wasteland that was Scotland under Cons and Labour, drug deaths have soared, from 26 in 2008, after 1 year in government, to 193 in 2022.
In every group under 35 the trend has been down as, within the limits of devolution, the SNP in government has done what it can to fight poverty and to create opportunities in employment and in education.
Among the under 25’s, drug deaths are down from 92 to 62, 33%.
Among the 15 to 19 year olds, down from 18 to 16.
Among the 20-24 year-olds, 74 to 46.
Among the 25 to 29 year-olds,106 to 58.
Among the 30 to 34 year-olds 105 to 78.
Sources:
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files/statistics/drug-related-deaths/22/drug-related-deaths-22-report.pdf
Talking-up Scotland / Facts on NHS, Crime, ferries and everything else you can think of 
Being part of the UK is bad for your health and wellbeing.
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Ahh but ferries…
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Ferries… chant the Yoons
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Interesting stats. There is little or no inclination in the BBC or in most mainstream media organisations to acknowledgement progress or improvement in any area of social or health policy in Scotland that could in anyway be attributed to an SNP government. It’s an easy game to play – report bad news; frame better news negatively; if news is too good to devise a negative frame, then just omit from the news coverage altogether. This way democracy can be influenced, skewed.
This from ONS statistics on deaths from ‘drug misuse’ published on 2 August 2022 (no date given for next data release!) may be of interest.
The data associated with Figure 3 of this ONS document reveals that in every 5 year age band ranging between 35-39 and 70-74 , when comparing 2008 with 2021 (latest ONS data) the mortality rate per million people for England and Wales has increased, in some cases very substantially. The largest increase in 2021 compared to 2008 is for the group aged 45-49, from 45.6 deaths per million population in 2008 to 135.6 in 2021. That’s a big jump.
The data fro Scotland shows that deaths in the 45-49 age group has been falling. over the past few years too.
This the same source that reports: ‘In 2021, the highest rate of drug misuse deaths was observed in the North East (104.1 deaths per million; 255 registered deaths), while the lowest rate was in the East of England (27.4 deaths per million; 166 deaths). The North East has had the highest rate of drug misuse deaths for the past nine years and has a statistically significantly higher rate than all other regions of England.’
These are big regional differences and yet the approach to this public health problem that is being pursued by the Westminster government is deemed to be appropriate, to be satisfactory, for all of England – even for all of the UK.
Westminster knows best. And if it’s found that the Scottish Government is finding a better approach – yes, it’s early days – the BBC etc. will downplay if not hide it from voters in Scotland.
Source https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoninginenglandandwales/2021registrations
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I think I have said before, I knew someone who knew someone in the know, who basically said that drugs were (maybe still are) deliberately brought into Scotland, via boats which can land without much bother, Scotland’s coast/sea is hardly protected/policed, (a reserved power to the EngGov), and so with a vast coastline..easy peasy. It would be very useful to have young folk drugged up to the eyeballs, living in the schemes, no decent jobs, no prospects, while oil etc was siphoned away to England under their very noses, drugs are big business and a form of control.
I know someone who was a teacher in Scotland during the Thatcher years and even before, and he said it was extremely hard to get the young people to study and do exams because they had literally no sense of worth, no prospects and few opportunities. That would be kids from the schemes not your posh schools of course.
The Brit state is not daft, they can easily control the people, though the SNP and Scottish Greens are a bit of a threat with regard to that now.
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Scotland has the largest fishing fleet in the UK and it is likely that this is a main route of entry of drugs.
I have a friend who is a specialist in football finance and has had business contacts with a majority of the football clubs (Excepting the global brands like Man City). He says that the directors of some small clubs in coastal areas use the club to ‘launder’ drugs money. Of course, ‘money laundering’ is one of the reasons for overseas ownership of large English clubs.
With regard to many of the small Scottish clubs the other side of the coin is that they have genuine community involvement and enable a great deal to be done for various groups within these communities.
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Further to Arty Hetty’s point. I taught in a former mining area in the early 1990s. Approaching exam time register teachers were asked to give a short pep talk to pupils on the importance of revision for the exams. I was giving a short talk illustrated by examples from a local brewery and a local building firm on the employment prospects of young people with 2 or 3 passes compared to those with no passes when one of my pupils interrupted with “ sur, we dinnae git joabs. We’re fae ( local former mining village).
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