Professor John Robertson OBA
The Guardian above, painting a very Scottish initiative as belonging to the UK.
UK Conservative governments have long refused, since at least 2019, requests from the SNP Government in Scotland, for permission to even pilot a safe drug consumption room.
In 2021, long after the first calls were made, the Scottish Government published an evidence paper1 which made the strongest of cases for such facilities but still permission was refused. Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer in 2023, made it clear he agreed and that he did not wish to see any changes in drug laws, if elected in 2024.2
So, this first example of a safe consumption facility will be in Glasgow with an SNP council, in Scotland with an SNP government going back 17 years and who does the Guardian writer, Eve Livingston, speak to?
But Glasgow Labour and Cooperative MSP Paul Sweeney, who has volunteered with a safe consumption van in the city designed to test the legal framework, told the Observer he had had encouraging conversations with the UK crime and policing minister, Diana Johnson. He said she is “open-minded and supportive, and interested in looking at the evidence from Glasgow to inform the Home Office approach”.3
The SNP gets no mention at any point but perhaps most offensive alongside the suggestion of soaring deaths in the header, is this:
The Thistle opens amid what has been called a drug deaths emergency in Scotland, with Glasgow named Europe’s drug deaths capital. Figures show 1,172 people died in 2023, almost a quarter of them in Glasgow.
So, for Scotland as a whole, this:
Drug deaths, based on blood tests, in Scotland were ‘soaring‘ until 2020, began to fall in 2021 and plummeted in 2022 before climbing in 2023. We do not know whether the 2023 increase is the beginning of a trend or just another blip. The 2023 figure remains well below the 2020 peak of 1 339.
The other measure of drug deaths, currently more up-to-date with 2024 data and perhaps more accurate, given the inexact science of measuring the level of toxic substances in a dead person’s blood4, is that provided by Police Scotland.
From the Scottish Government’s Suspected drug deaths in Scotland, published on 10th December:
- Quarter 1 – 320 deaths
- Q2 – 269
- Q3 – 244
- Total for 2024 so far – 833.
This is the first clearly falling trend on record, with the quarterly level varying little in the years before that, since the peak of 413 in Q2 2020.
The totals for Q1 – Q3 only:
- 2020 – 1 047
- 2021 – 1 007
- 2022 – 797
- 2023 – 900
- 2024 – 833
Annual variations count for little, mean little, but trends over 5 years tell you what is really happening and, based on police observations of mortality scenes (presence of drug abuse material), the trend in Scotland is clearly down, 20% in 5 years.
These data come from Police Scotland management information to provide an indication of current trends in suspected drug deaths in Scotland as opposed to those data from the National Records of Scotland based on the presence of drugs in the blood of the deceased.
How does this compare with the NRS data?
There was a 12% increase from 2022 to 2023, just as we see in the suspected deaths above, but that followed reductions in each of the two previous years after nearly three decades of climbing figures. There is every reason to expect the NRS data will reveal a further fall for 2024 when they report in 2025.
Finally, there is this, the kind of thing you’d expect a young investigative reporter to be interested in.
Drug deaths in England & Wales significantly under-reported according to UK Civil Service
From Comparability of drug-related death statistics across the United Kingdom by Paul Breen of the UK Civil Service on 4 August 20235:
First:
The definitions used for drug-related death statistics are consistent across the UK, but there are important differences in data collection methods and in the death registration systems that affect these statistics.Second:
For England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the only information received by the ONS and NISRA is what is included on the death certificate. The amount of information varies and can be very limited. For drug-related deaths in Scotland, NRS receives additional information on the drugs involved.
Third:
The differences mean that the amount of information held on drug-related deaths varies across the UK. In 2021, 25.1% of drug-related deaths registered in England and Wales had no information on the specific substances involved. The equivalent figure for Scotland was 1.9%, and for Northern Ireland the figure was 6.6%. The proportion of drug-related deaths where no information about specific substances is known has remained consistent over time in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, the proportion of these deaths has been increasing over time in England and Wales, with important consequences for drug-related death statistics.
Fourth:
In most cases a death cannot be called a drug misuse death when no information on the specific substances is known or provided. Because of this, figures for drug misuse are underestimates. But the figure for England and Wales underestimates the number by a far greater extent.
The different levels of missing data mean that the respective figures for drug misuse published by the ONS for England and Wales, NRS for Scotland, and NISRA for Northern Ireland, are not directly comparable.
So, I think this means that around a quarter of all English drug-related deaths are not being counted because the drug is not identified but in Scotland less than a fiftieth fall into this category.
If correct this may mean that not only does Scotland have the highest drug death rate in Europe but so does the whole of the UK.
Sources:
- https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/research-and-analysis/2021/10/safer-drug-consumption-facilites-evidence-paper/documents/safer-drug-consumption-facilities-evidence-paper/safer-drug-consumption-facilities-evidence-paper/govscot:document/safer-drug-consumption-facilities-evidence-paper.pdf
- https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-labour-party-leader-keir-starmer-no-uk-drugs-reform/
- https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/dec/22/uk-to-open-its-first-safe-drug-consumption-room-amid-soaring-deaths
- https://www.bmj.com/content/329/7467/636.full
- https://analysisfunction.civilservice.gov.uk/blog/comparability-of-drug-related-death-statistics-across-the-united-kingdom/
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Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
“Drug deaths in England & Wales significantly under-reported according to UK Civil Service“
Many people in the past had commentated that they suspected that the recording of such information, as in how drug deaths in England were recorded, had to be somewhat suspect , as they could not understand how drug deaths in Scotland was higher than in England. (Wales was news to me that they too “under-reported” this but was also not a surprise to me).
“The Guardian above, painting a very Scottish initiative as belonging to the UK.”
That does not surprise me at all. The Guardian are one of the client media of the Labour party and I am sure that this will not be the only thing that will be recorded as a UK or Labour success that originally was an SNP idea, policy or initiative , but it will only be promoted as a UK success by newspapers such as The Guardian while there is a Labour UK government.
AS to Paul McSweeney well has a (bad) habit ( also known as political opportunism) of highlighting what he says are the #SNPBAD Glasgow issues which in reality are the #LABOURBAD Glasgow issues that the previous Labour council left behind as a #LABOURBAD legacy.
I think that the people of Scotland should take what newspapers like The Guardian state with a pinch of salt, as looking at the bigger picture with Labour as the new UK government , then they, as the current new UK government, are hardly, as a government, one that many of the public currently now see as being those who are making either the right decisions or the best decisions for them as a public. Indeed the opposite is the case.
As to Safe consumption rooms surely people in Scotland remember that this was one of the main thrusts of the SNP’s argument to reduce drug deaths , where the previous Tory UK government refused to agree to this request from the SNP, so surely the media now cannot give all credit to Labour (UK) for something that another party, the SNP, originally requested ? (as you stated that in 2021 “the Scottish Government (SNP) published an evidence paper1 which made the strongest of cases for such facilities”).
Oh wait , I was forgetting that the UK state that we, Scotland, were a part of was one that was corrupt, unfair and dishonest both via their UK politics and their UK media.
So of course both Labour and also the media within the UK will ignore the SNP’s significant part in this and instead will still promote that the SNP are #BAD and that Labour and the UK are #GOOD.
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(I think that the people of Scotland should take what newspapers like The Guardian state with a pinch of salt,)
If only.
Too many lazy, ill-informed, “what about the ferries, people in Scotland.
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*AS to Paul McSweeney well has a (bad) habit
As to Paul McSweeney well he has a (bad) habit
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It is a remarkable achievement by the Guardian journalist to write at length on the topic of a safe consumption facility in Glasgow for drug users whilst avoiding any mention of the Scottish Government (other than the Lord Advocate) or Glasgow City Council. And managing to avoid any mention of SNP or Scottish Greens’ support for safe consumption facilities in the face of Westminster government opposition! Yet the Guardian journalist favours Labour with a positive framing of its position on drugs policy.
The Guardian’s headline includes the phrase ‘amid soaring deaths’. And whilst making references to UK government policies, it rehashes this: ‘… drug deaths emergency in Scotland, with Glasgow named Europe’s drug deaths capital.’ ‘Soaring’ and an emergency (just) in Scotland is the clear implication.
The graph of drug deaths in Scotland – still far too high – shown in the main blog post suggests that based on evidence for recent years, ’soaring’ is no longer an accurate description. Arguably, it’s lazy journalism to continue to trot out the same old messages without taking into account up to date statistics and without more informed perspectives.
If the Guardian wishes to set its reporting of Labour’s policy position in the context of a drugs ’emergency’ and ‘soaring’ drug deaths then this is relevant! From The Big Issue (October 23, 2024): ‘Drug deaths at highest level since records began – and experts say it’s going to get worse – despite 5,448 people recorded as dying from drugs, experts warn official figures miss the true scale of the UK’s synthetic opioid crisis’.
See https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/drug-deaths-cocaine-nitazene-opioid-crisis/
The Big Issue article makes no reference to Scotland: ‘Drug related deaths in England and Wales have increased for the 13th year in a row, with 5,448 people losing their lives. But experts warn we are still only seeing the start of the UK’s synthetic opioids crisis, ..’. (my emphasis)
‘Almost half of the deaths from drug poisoning involved opioids, while cocaine deaths increased by 30.5% year-on-year – up to 1,118 fatalities and an increase of 10 times since 2011. The 5,448 figure is the highest since records began in 1993 and represents an 11% increase on 2022.’ ‘Soaring’?
The article goes on: ‘However, there are warnings the statistics are just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to deaths from nitazenes and synthetic opioids. Almost two-thirds of the deaths included in the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) happened before 2023, owing to delays in coroners’ courts.’
The executive director of the charity Release is reported by the Big Issue saying it was time for the government to decriminalise drug possession and increase the number of drug consumption rooms and checking facilities: “This public health crisis is turning into a health catastrophe. Across England and Wales, those using drugs have been intentionally abandoned by the state. A growing number of adulterants within the drug supply have meant that drug supplies are more toxic than ever; more and more people are unknowingly exposed to new and dangerous substances, with limited access to resources to stay safe.”
Back to the Guardian article amplifying the Labour government’s position: ‘Glasgow Labour and Cooperative MSP Paul Sweeney …. told the Observer he had had encouraging conversations with the UK crime and policing minister, Diana Johnson. He said she is “open-minded and supportive, and interested in looking at the evidence from Glasgow to inform the Home Office approach”.
OK but ….: ‘A government spokesperson said: “ While we have no plans to change UK drug laws, through our mission-driven government, we will take preventative public health measures to tackle the biggest killers in society – including drug misuse – and support people to live longer, healthier lives.” So Labour’s ‘change’ will be ……. what?
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The drug deaths elsewhere, are reported in three categories, death by poison, heroin deaths, and accidental drug death. In Scotland it is reported as a total.
The Scottish Gov is funding total abstinence, proper rehabs £250Million over five years. The Councils (unionist) keep people on methadone for years. Worse than heroin. All the drug deaths in Scotland are people prescribed methadone and taking other substances.
More young people are coming forward for help. Drugs are now cocaine and ketamine. Fatal over time.
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O/T
Apparently “Labour in Scotland received Cammy Day complaint ‘almost two years’ before suspension”.
The complaint being a “sexual harassment complaint” against the Edinburgh Labour council leader Cammy Day, that is the same Edinburgh Labour council that suspended two of it’s Labour councillors for not voting with the Tories.
So if you are a Labour councillor in Scotland and you do not vote with the Tories against the SNP then you will get suspended, however if there are allegations against you of “sexual harassment” as a Labour councillor and leader, then no worries your job and place in Labour is safe, well that is until someone exposes that scandalous news.
This is the same Labour party whose so called leader in Scotland , Anas Sarwar, expects you to believe that the SNP are #BAD because they do not act promptly when he , as the Labour leader (ITO) in opposition to the SNP, demands that some Scottish minister in the Scottish government should resign if he and his client media decide they have been #BAD or rather #SNPBAD.
While it is seemingly okay for him, Sarwar, and his Labour party to drag his and their heels for, checks notes, almost “two years” on this complaint against Cammy Day.
Also do not assume that it is the so called Labour UK and their UK leader Keir Starmer as the ones who are damaging Labour in Scotland, because Labour in Scotland ARE part of Labour UK too and not a separate entity.
Also Anas Sarwar is doing just as good a job at damaging his Labour party in Scotland as his WM leader and too his Labour party at WM are also doing.
As some of Sarwar’s flaws are his :
Duplicity & hypocrisy
His weakness within Labour UK
His reinforcing of Labour’s UK’s GE campaign message of “Change” that has now proven to have been a big fat lie.
His mistake recently in supposdley “pressing the wrong button” in a recent vote in the Scottish parliament where he then voted with the Tories (which when he was interviewed about it by STV he was laughing about it as he did not see it as a serious and incompetent action for him to have done as the so called Labour leader in Scotland)
Also now we have this latest shocking news regarding Cammy day and how he, Sarwar, the Labour party did not act immediately on this complaint , this just confirms Sarwar’s hypocrisy in all that he states in relation to the SNP and the FM.
As Sarwar often accuses the FM of supposdley not acting quick enough on matters that he, Sarwar , (supposdley) deems as being scandalous or as he calls it #SNPBAD.
I think that as far as the Labour UK party’s hopes in Scotland to be the next devolved government in Scotland and also Sarwar’s aspiration to be the next FM of Scotland are, as a hope and aspiration, both rapidly diminishing as a possible reality.
That is not only down to his, Sarwar’s, WM party but it is very much largely down to Sarwar and his actions too , and now also apparently his lack of action on a serious and very much scandalous matter . One that Labour and he have deliberately obscured , not wanted to address and so they , as a political party , should then suffer damaging consequences because of it , in all future elections within Scotland.
So it is true then, that if you ever vote for Labour, you then have to live with a huge sense of regret , and although your vote is not for life, it may seem that way when you then have to endure the many negative consequences of your voting for Labour in any election, via any Labour government (at any level).
(Cue Paul Hutcheon of the Daily Record – Labour’s election campaign newspaper in Scotland- composing another #SNPBAD headline in an edition of their paper this week in yet another attempt at pro UK and pro Labour deflection ).
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According to a report by Tory Kathy Gyngell in 2009 The UK drug problem is the fault of John Majors’ Tory government and Tony Blair’s Labour government……https://cps.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/111026175647-thephoneywarondrugs.pdf……..and from 2006 which is basically the same report…https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BreakdownBritain-AddictedBritain.pdf….Proof that the SNP have been mitigating very bad successive Tory and Labour policies since becoming Scottish Government!!!
JB
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The Guardian cementing its place in the UK cohort of liars that makes the UK press the least trusted in the world.
Like McKenna and BBC’Scot’ it can’t face the reality of Labour’s failure, so serious now it is toxic to Scotland’s democracy.
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