Drug deaths in Scotland hit record high

[ICTJohnboy]

1 hour ago, SuperSaints1877 said:

Horrific viewing those charts. I wonder how it compares to the 80s when there were significant deaths attributed to heroin use.

The direct correlation to poverty as per the reports is worrying with this cost of living crisis we are now experiencing. 

 

Is it ever.

As someone who packed in cigarettes several years ago, having decided I could no longer afford to buy them, I struggle to understand how most drug related problems seem to be tied in to the most deprived areas.

[Aufc]

 
Is it ever.
As someone who packed in cigarettes several years ago, having decided I could no longer afford to buy them, I struggle to understand how most drug related problems seem to be tied in to the most deprived areas.

You get what you pay for. Less money to spend means you taking a risk with the quality

Example is cocaine
£100 for 1 x “prop”
£100 for 3 x “cooncil”

Would imagine bigger risk with heroin

Will be other reasons as well

[Todd_is_God]

18 minutes ago, ICTJohnboy said:

 

Is it ever.

As someone who packed in cigarettes several years ago, having decided I could no longer afford to buy them, I struggle to understand how most drug related problems seem to be tied in to the most deprived areas.

Crime. People aren't stealing cars and breaking in to houses to pay for their Tesco delivery...

It's a vicious cycle.

[KD1711]

On 28/07/2022 at 19:07, Aufc said:

You get what you pay for. Less money to spend means you taking a risk with the quality

Example is cocaine
£100 for 1 x “prop”
£100 for 3 x “cooncil”

Would imagine bigger risk with heroin

Will be other reasons as well

Don't know where you are getting your prop and council for but it is common round Airdrie to get 1 prop for £80  and 7 council for that price you have mentioned. 

[101]

On 28/07/2022 at 18:48, ICTJohnboy said:

I struggle to understand how most drug related problems seem to be tied in to the most deprived areas.

Because if your life is hellish and you can't escape physically then you'll escape mentally through drugs.

Either that or your comfortably off get hooked and end up spending everything you had and end up in a deprived area.

As others have said they are likely to be on lower quality gear or doing far more than the middle class cocaine user or both.

[welshbairn]

On 28/07/2022 at 18:48, ICTJohnboy said:

 

Is it ever.

As someone who packed in cigarettes several years ago, having decided I could no longer afford to buy them, I struggle to understand how most drug related problems seem to be tied in to the most deprived areas.

I've worked with people in fairly responsible jobs who managed a daily heroin habit, wasn't obvious at all. Not sure how long they managed to keep it in control though, or if they managed to give it up.

[ICTChris]

45 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

I've worked with people in fairly responsible jobs who managed a daily heroin habit, wasn't obvious at all. Not sure how long they managed to keep it in control though, or if they managed to give it up.

I'd imagine that's quite rare.

Just looking at the NRS figures on drug deaths by different levels of deprivation, the rise is unbelievably stark.

They use quintiles going from 1, most deprived to 5, least deprived.

In 2001 the rate of drug deaths for the quintile 1 was 16.6 per 100,000.  In 2021 it had increased to 64.3 per 100,000,  roughly four times the 2001 rate.

Quintile 2 went from 7.1/100k to 34.3/100k, nearly five times the rate.

QUintile 3 went from 3.1/100k to 18.3/100k, more than six times the 2001 rate.

Quintile 4 went from 2.1 to 7.4, 3.5 times the 2001 rate.

Quintile 5, the least deprived, went from 1.6 to 4.2, 2.5 times the rate.

So the highest numbers are among the most deprived but the biggest proportional jumps are among those above that.  SIMD come up with their figures from a rank of income, employment, health, education, access to services, crime rates and housing.  The middle group seems to have seen a huge rise.  So it's not as if it's just people in the roughest areas, it's something that spread to other areas that weren't previously affected badly.

[ICTChris]

If you fancy seeing how deprived or not deprived you are SIMD do an interactive map.

https://simd.scot/#/simd2020/BTTTFTT/9/-4.0000/55.9000/

I live in an area classed as the least deprived.  Literally across the road from me is an area exactly the opposite. Stark.

[welshbairn]

39 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

I live in an area classed as the least deprived.  Literally across the road from me is an area exactly the opposite. Stark.

On my way.

[D Angelo Barksdale]

That SIMD is tough to look at on a mobile.

[101]

2 hours ago, ICTChris said:

If you fancy seeing how deprived or not deprived you are SIMD do an interactive map.

https://simd.scot/#/simd2020/BTTTFTT/9/-4.0000/55.9000/

I live in an area classed as the least deprived.  Literally across the road from me is an area exactly the opposite. Stark.

Likewise, I'm in 10 under a mile or so there are 2 areas in the lowest percentile, pretty crap for such a small city.

[Left Back]

3 hours ago, welshbairn said:

I've worked with people in fairly responsible jobs who managed a daily heroin habit, wasn't obvious at all. Not sure how long they managed to keep it in control though, or if they managed to give it up.

I had a good friend in London (lost touch with him now) that I went on the piss with every weekend.  He had a heroin habit for years that I never twigged to.  Utterly clueless.  Then again I was also clueless when my best mate (heroin guys brother) told me he’d been on the ching for donkeys. 

[Alert Mongoose]

3 hours ago, ICTChris said:

If you fancy seeing how deprived or not deprived you are SIMD do an interactive map.

https://simd.scot/#/simd2020/BTTTFTT/9/-4.0000/55.9000/

I live in an area classed as the least deprived.  Literally across the road from me is an area exactly the opposite. Stark.

I can't zoom in to see what it all means. My overall rank is 25 - is that good or bad?

[ICTChris]

20 minutes ago, Alert Mongoose said:

I can't zoom in to see what it all means. My overall rank is 25 - is that good or bad?

Bad.

[Bonksy+HisChristianParade]

15 hours ago, ICTChris said:

If you fancy seeing how deprived or not deprived you are SIMD do an interactive map.

https://simd.scot/#/simd2020/BTTTFTT/9/-4.0000/55.9000/

I live in an area classed as the least deprived.  Literally across the road from me is an area exactly the opposite. Stark.

Had a quick look at that map for Perth. One thing I don’t get is that the Kinnoull Hill area and along the riverfront (the houses there cost like a million) is in light yellow, i.e. the 5th decile. It’s probably the most affluent area of the city up there. Then the old people bit of Gannochy is in blue. Bizarre.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Bonksy+HisChristianParade

[SuperSaints1877]

7 hours ago, oaksoft said:

It can't be as simple as people with shite lives drugging up to forget things.

WTF is going on here?

What is causing so many people to buy something so deadly from a bloke on a street corner who has likely mixed the drugs with all manner of poisonous shite? It's absolutely fucking insane.

There are a multitude of reasons for why people start down the road of taking drugs. Like a lot of people on here I have my own personal experience over the last few decades.

In the majority of cases people will try drugs for the first time when under the influence of alcohol and seeing their friends do drugs and want to be part of the group. Most youths who start out drinking try weed for the first time. Once they start going to clubs some will use ecstasy, speed and coke.

Youngsters despite all the drug education available now in schools will take drugs. They see others doing it. Whether that is older friends,older siblings and their own pals and want to be part of the gang. Peer pressure in many ways.

When I was growing up coke was very much seen as a rich man’s drug. It is now more easily accessible and lower cost. It’s used a lot at football grounds now in Scotland by youngsters. You would never have seen that in Scotland in the 70/80s on the terraces.

Regarding poverty. When you have have been unemployed for a long time and are experiencing depression and isolation and you can’t afford to drink to block it out, then you can easily get street Valium for 50p. 

The highs and lows that you can get from drug use are highly addictive. When mixed with alcohol and other drugs these can be deadly. Unfortunately many of the side effects of these drugs leads to further depression and paranoia which leads to increased drug use to block out the effects. Vicious cycle.

It’s not just poverty. I’ve had friends with high flying careers with a lot of money to burn turn to drugs to deal with the stress of the job/marriage/family/mid life crisis. One of my closet friends in his 50s who was very successful in his career became addicted to alcohol and coke. He lost his job, his house and now he can’t even recognise his own wife and family as his brain is fcuked. He is now in a care home. So sad. Is that classed as early onset dementia? How much of that was down to his addictions?

I would like to see Scotland introduce new measures to tackle this problem along the lines of this.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-48921696

[SuperSaints1877]

10 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

If peer pressure is the big influence here, f**k knows how you fix that.

Agreed. As I say I’m only basing it on my personal experience.

I lost one of my closet cousins to heroin and alcohol addiction in the 80s. She died so young leaving behind two kids. She was in an abusive marriage.

Let’s not forget the part that drug gangs play in getting youngsters hooked by giving them free drugs and money to do drop offs.

I made a lot of bad choices growing up. Without a doubt who you associate with plays a large part.

I’ve been honest with my kids about my past. I believe in sharing my experiences to them in the hope that they don’t go down a similar path.

I believe the availability of drugs are greater now than they have ever been. 

You can get access to drugs as easily as ordering a takeaway.

[vikingTON]

57 minutes ago, Bonksy+HisChristianParade said:

Had a quick look at that map for Perth. One thing I don’t get is that the Kinnoull Hill area and along the riverfront (the houses there cost like a million) is in light yellow, i.e. the 5th decile. It’s probably the most affluent area of the city up there. Then the old people bit of Gannochy is in blue. Bizarre.

It's an index of multiple deprivation and so includes other metrics like education and geography (public transport links as well as 'distance to a GP'). It therefore isn't a precise measurement of socio-economic deprivation, although it's better than none at all. 

Edited August 3, 2022 by vikingTON

[Genuine Hibs Fan]

58 minutes ago, Bonksy+HisChristianParade said:

Had a quick look at that map for Perth. One thing I don’t get is that the Kinnoull Hill area and along the riverfront (the houses there cost like a million) is in light yellow, i.e. the 5th decile. It’s probably the most affluent area of the city up there. Then the old people bit of Gannochy is in blue. Bizarre.

Aye there's a few bits for Perth that stuck out to me, and some which were sadly predictable. Think it's as VT says, and there's always little things it can't take into account. CBA to go back to see if it's still the case but remember the area around the South Inch up into nice enough parts of craigie used to be pretty bad in these but the prison being there has a huge impact 

[Monkey Tennis]

5 minutes ago, virginton said:

It's an index of multiple deprivation and so includes other metrics like education and geography (bizarrely measured, presumably among other things, by 'distance to a GP'). It therefore isn't a precise measurement of socio-economic deprivation, although it's better than none at all. 

Yes, this.

It doesn't measure wealth, it measures the extent of different aspects of deprivation.

It's useful in that it does highlight deprivation and the bulk of it would conform roughly to how most of us would view areas we know.  A close inspection will, however, also reveal some anomalies that seem crazy.  

It does better as a metric in poorer areas than in wealthier ones if that makes sense.  More of the anomalies will appear in the latter.