Drug death toll in Scotland reaches record

[ExpandMyMind]

SCOTLAND'S drug death toll has risen to record levels, figures revealed today.

Drugs killed 574 people in 2008 - up from 455 the previous year.

The number of deaths has more than doubled in a decade.

The General Register Office for Scotland report said the long-term trend "appears to be steadily upwards".

Experts believe the death rate is rising partly because of the growing numbers of older drug users, many having been been addicts for several years.

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also from the article...

Heroin or morphine was found in 336 bodies. Alcohol was detected in 273 cases.

Methadone, the heroin substitute, was found in one third of cases - a level the report indicated was "not much different to previous years".

Men accounted for 80% of drug related deaths in 2008.

Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS area recorded 34% of drug deaths, with Lothian recording 16% and Tayside recording 9%.

damned stupid smackheads.

i haven't been able to find out what drugs have been responsible for the deaths. the article states it's mainly heroin and methadone. it mentions alcohol being present but doesn't specify if it was responsible for any deaths or if it was just present in 273 of the heroin cases. personally i think it's the latter as i'm pretty sure alcohol kills more than all other drugs put together. i believe that variations of valium have also been responsible for many, many deaths up here in the past year but the article (or any of the others i've read) doesn't make it clear whether or not they're referring to illegal or legal drugs - or both. also pretty sure solvents kill more people per year than heroin - in britain.

whatever the case is it seems all drugs will be tarred with the same brush by uninformed people... i say we stop fighting the taleban in afghanistan and start burning the damned fields of poppies (as the taleban actually did).. do the entire world a favour, because this is only going to get worse as time goes on.

really do hate smackheads though man...

Edited August 12, 2009 by expandmymind

[chemical-licker]

I blame trainspotting When at the end of it, a heroin addict turns into a descent person who wants to pay bills. soul destroying

[churchanddestroy]

also from the article...

damned stupid smackheads.

i haven't been able to find out what drugs have been responsible for the deaths. the article states it's mainly heroin and methadone. it mentions alcohol being present but doesn't specify if it was responsible for any deaths or if it was just present in 273 of the heroin cases. personally i think it's the latter as i'm pretty sure alcohol kills more than all other drugs put together. i believe that variations of valium have also been responsible for many, many deaths up here in the past year but the article (or any of the others i've read) doesn't make it clear whether or not they're referring to illegal or legal drugs - or both. also pretty sure solvents kill more people per year than heroin - in britain.

whatever the case is it seems all drugs will be tarred with the same brush by uninformed people... i say we stop fighting the taleban in afghanistan and start burning the damned fields of poppies (as the taleban actually did).. do the entire world a favour, because this is only going to get worse as time goes on.

really do hate smackheads though man...

It is rarely noted, but most heroin ODs happen because addicts will mix substances, like alcohol, while getting high, which is a bad idea. Heroin by itself, if its clean, and you know what you are doing, is comparatively harmless. Bring alcohol into the mix, and you've got yourself a problem.

[ExpandMyMind]

I blame trainspotting When at the end of it, a heroin addict turns into a descent person who wants to pay bills. soul destroying

surprised you could understand trainspotting.. i tried to read the book and it was torture - reads worse than a rabbi burns poem...

there's probably an element of truth in what you say though mate. that film went a long way in glamourising the smack world... for some reason i can't quite grasp.

i say something needs to be done at the heart of the problem - while we're in the country that 99% of the world's smack is grown, twiddling our thumbs for the most part, we should be tackling a much more dangerous problem than 'terrorists'.

think i'm going to join the army, been mulling it over recently... if the government released a statement saying they were going to tackle poppy in a serious way over there... i'd sign up tomorrow.

[ExpandMyMind]

It is rarely noted, but most heroin ODs happen because addicts will mix substances, like alcohol, while getting high, which is a bad idea. Heroin by itself, if its clean, and you know what you are doing, is comparatively harmless. Bring alcohol into the mix, and you've got yourself a problem.

yeah i think the reason the article mentions alcohol is to emphasize that most of the deaths were a result of alcohol and heroin. i definately don't agree that heroin is clean though. maybe china white from back in the day - where people knew it wasn't mixed with shiite. nowadays there's all sorts of crap through it.

and it isn't even the deaths that bother me. i'd be quite happy to see all the smackheads die because it's what they do to get the drugs, and their disconnection with society that is the dangerous thing about the situation. i also don't like the fact that perfectly safe (when not abused) recreational drugs are grouped together with smack.

[chemical-licker]

surprised you could understand trainspotting.. i tried to read the book and it was torture - reads worse than a rabbi burns poem...

there's probably an element of truth in what you say though mate. that film went a long way in glamourising the smack world... for some reason i can't quite grasp.

i say something needs to be done at the heart of the problem - while we're in the country that 99% of the world's smack is grown, twiddling our thumbs for the most part, we should be tackling a much more dangerous problem than 'terrorists'.

think i'm going to join the army, been mulling it over recently... if the government released a statement saying they were going to tackle poppy in a serious way over there... i'd sign up tomorrow.

serious? geez things really that bad?

[ExpandMyMind]

serious? geez things really that bad?

you mean the army? yeah, well, i've wanted to join since i was about 12... recently (the last 10 years) i may not agree with 80% of the things we do, but at the end of the day, that's our boys over there.

but yeah, things are **** up here mate... job-wise, culture-wise... even the women seem to be getting uglier

[churchanddestroy]

yeah i think the reason the article mentions alcohol is to emphasize that most of the deaths were a result of alcohol and heroin. i definately don't agree that heroin is clean though. maybe china white from back in the day - where people knew it wasn't mixed with shiite. nowadays there's all sorts of crap through it.

and it isn't even the deaths that bother me. i'd be quite happy to see all the smackheads die because it's what they do to get the drugs, and their disconnection with society that is the dangerous thing about the situation. i also don't like the fact that perfectly safe (when not abused) recreational drugs are grouped together with smack.

Of course. Heroin off the streets today is anything but clean. Mixing it with alcohol makes it way way worse. Thats the danger of illegalized drugs: you have no idea whats mixed in with them. A couple of years back here in Chicago there was an epidemic of people dropping dead from their heroin fix, because someone had mixed something extra nasty in with it.

[Bill Hill]

think i'm going to join the army, been mulling it over recently... if the government released a statement saying they were going to tackle poppy in a serious way over there... i'd sign up tomorrow.

If I was you, then I'd join the RAF, not the army...

[ExpandMyMind]

Of course. Heroin off the streets today is anything but clean. Mixing it with alcohol makes it way way worse. Thats the danger of illegalized drugs: you have no idea whats mixed in with them. A couple of years back here in Chicago there was an epidemic of people dropping dead from their heroin fix, because someone had mixed something extra nasty in with it.

same thing has happened up here in the past year with valium... obviously not legit stuff. about 25 people have died in the town i live in. wonder if the statistics count legal drugs too? i'm guessing not as more people die each year from apirin than most illegal drugs...

[ExpandMyMind]

If I was you, then I'd join the RAF, not the army...

got a mate who just joined them last month... isn't liking it too much though for some reason. hmm. i woould love to join the RAF though.

[hetrodoxly]

you mean the army? yeah, well, i've wanted to join since i was about 12... recently (the last 10 years) i may not agree with 80% of the things we do, but at the end of the day, that's our boys over there.

but yeah, things are **** up here mate... job-wise, culture-wise... even the women seem to be getting uglier

Can be a good life, i know someone who's just joined at the age of thirty.

[ExpandMyMind]

Can be a good life, i know someone who's just joined at the age of thirty.

nice one. i thought the cut-off date had just recently been put up to 29... sure your mate isn't in dad's army?

[hetrodoxly]

nice one. i thought the cut-off date had just recently been put up to 29... sure your mate isn't in dad's army?

("We're all, doomed, doomed ...").

I think it's 33?

[ExpandMyMind]

("We're all, doomed, doomed ...").

I think it's 33?

ah right, i must have been misinformed. that's quite good actually, the army might see a massive increase in recruitment if the economy goes as far downhill as has been predicted.

hell, 10 years ago it was at 26 or something.

[chemical-licker]

ah right, i must have been misinformed. that's quite good actually, the army might see a massive increase in recruitment if the economy goes as far downhill as has been predicted.

hell, 10 years ago it was at 26 or something.

look at the police force, had to be a certain height, now they take all the power nerd freaks.

[ExpandMyMind]

look at the police force, had to be a certain height, now they take all the power nerd freaks.

hah! that's so true mate. did you know that they also take on fat people and extremely short people aswell? they really have lowered the bar...