BBC Drugs Map of Britain: "Scotland's Valium Crisis"

[[La...]]

Scotland's Valium Crisis:

 

 

 

[[be...]]

Thanks for posting this Lapis and everything else too.  You've been busy.    I (sort of) saw it to the side on the Youtube yesterday when looking over the other documentary we were talking about.  I'll be watching it soon.  Judging by the imagery, this looks good.

[[La...]]

You're welcome, benzohno. I watched it (good, but sad), and I'm hoping to watch the one on alcohol in Britain too. I know that's a huge problem there.

[[bl...]]

This programme was eye opening watched another on BBC iPlayer recently about the gabapentin problem in belfast, I hadn't even realised there was one but it made me glad I have never touched the stuff it's evil

[[Ph...]]

Depressing.  What's the solution to this?

[[La...]]

It would have to be a multi-faceted solution, as with other complex situations. There are issues of poverty, unemployment, addiction, access to health care, social support and family relationships, among other things. The focus of this video is a particular area of Scotland, and it's not evident whether it reflects a larger picture in that country.

[[Ph...]]

It would have to be a multi-faceted solution, as with other complex situations. There are issues of poverty, unemployment, addiction, access to health care, social support and family relationships, among other things. The focus of this video is a particular area of Scotland, and it's not evident whether it reflects a larger picture in that country.

Maybe we can learn from this:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jun/05/singapore-policy-drugs-bay

 

What do you think?  Sounds about right to me...

 

[[La...]]

Actually, I'd like to hear what you think! Do you think it could work in Scotland? Or elsewhere?

[[Ph...]]

Actually, I'd like to hear what you think! Do you think it could work in Scotland? Or elsewhere?

 

It won't work until the issues of poverty, unemployment, addiction, access to health care, social support and family relationships are understood to be peripheral and secondary.  In the hierarchy of problems, drug distribution and abuse come first.  But much of this discussion hinges on social policy and political will.  I won't discuss politics in this forum but I'll say this much; this needs to addressed in the same way that the problem of a malignant tumor is addressed.  Urgently, directly and effectively.  I know, I know, there will be those who will say that effective action affects this community or that community disproportionately and there will be marches, hand-wringing, charges of this "ism" and of that "ism" and the usual bill of fare, but the price of this obstructionism will be high.  The nation will rot from the inside.  Western civilization has been dancing around this problem for nearly 50 years and hasn't even touched it.  How long do you want to wait?

[[La...]]

Hi Photo Bug,

Thanks for replying. However, I still don't have a sense of what you think is the solution to this problem. The program is part of a BBC series, called "Drugs Map of Britain". This particular program looks at the Valium/diazepam problem in Dundee, Scotland, and shows us the story of one representative young man who takes massive numbers of street-acquired pills at a time. He hardly eats, and he can't walk or work or think. He is completely non-functional.

 

If you were there and you were in a position to come up with a solution for people like him in this particular place, what would you suggest? In the Guardian article you shared, Singapore appears to have a "comprehensive national strategy". Here's a quote:

 

"Singapore pursues a comprehensive national strategy to combat the scourge of drugs, comprising a high-profile public education campaign, treatment and rehabilitation of drug offenders, as well as strict laws and stiff penalties against those involved in the drug trade."

 

If you don't think the Singaporean solution would work in Dundee, Scotland, what would you do differently? What is the urgent, direct and effective solution you have in mind?

 

Here in Canada -- as in the U.S. -- there's a big issue with opioid addiction, and it has now become a crisis. There are efforts to address it on all levels here, and only time will tell how well those efforts are working. In the meantime, people are dying at alarming rates. Some (many?) of these problems began with pain medication prescriptions in doctors' offices. And while people aren't dying at alarming rates from benzodiazepine addictions, there are definitely similarities between the two issues.

 

 

[[Ph...]]

Yes, I think the Singaporean solution can work in Scotland and anywhere else, for that matter.