A thread gathering together core facts about the drug deaths crisis in Scotland. Following Nicola Sturgeon’s admission that she took her “eye off the ball on drug deaths”, just how big a tragedy has the SNP presided over?
#SP21 #Holyrood2021
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Fact 1:
Scotland has the more drug deaths per capita than any other European country.
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Fact Two:
Benzodiazepines are becoming used as a way for high-risk opioid users to self-medicate or increase the effects of their heroin or methadone addictions.
The situation grows worse.
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Fact Three:
Glasgow City is particularly badly hit by drug deaths. And Benzodiazepines are a massive killer compared to other drugs.
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Fact Four:
‘Street benzos’ are sold for as little as 50p a pill.
There has been a massive increase in use of non-prescribed benzodiazepines.
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Fact Five:
“There is now an ageing population of drug addicts, mainly men, who have been using heroin for decades.”
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Fact Six:
This is an urban crisis.
➡️ Dundee City Council drug death rate is an ave of 0.36 per 1,000 of pop over past five years. This is worst in all Scotland
➡️ Glasgow City is second worst at 0.35.
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Fact Seven:
Scotland’s drug-related death toll more than 3.5 times the rate for whole UK.
“Scotland’s drug-related death rate as 231 per million people and estimated the rate for the whole of the UK to be 64 drug-related deaths per million.”
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Fact Eight:
SNP now themselves freely admit their cuts have hit drug services amid the spiriting deaths crisis in Glasgow.
There have been cumulative cuts of £40m over five years which have “negatively impacted on provision & capacity of essential addiction services.”
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Sources:
‘Experts condemn public health emergency as national tragedy & disgrace’
amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/d…
‘Scotland's drug death crisis in six charts’
bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-sc…
‘SNP admit cuts have hit drug services amid deaths crisis in Glasgow’
glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/18200346.…
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➡️Looking beyond the drug deaths crisis:
My latest article doing a deep dive on worsening individual health outcomes. While the SNP has prioritised flags and constitutional politics, Scotland’s health suffers.
thinkscotland.org/thinkpolitics/…
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