UK Leads On Drugs Deaths

I have periodically commented on here about the prevalence of drugs locally and the picture nationally and globally - see for example my posts from a year ago this month.

New figures show that the number of drug deaths in Britain is among highest in the world. Illegal substances killed 2,278 people in a year, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. It ranks Britain sixth in the world, with only the US, Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Iran and Mexico having more.

Most of these deaths were caused by opioids, such as heroin, followed by sedatives, cocaine, amphetamine-type stimulants and ecstasy. The report also warned that, while drug use across the world remained stable, ‘demand soared for substances not under international control’ – so called legal highs. It added: ‘These markets continue to evolve and every year new products are manufactured to supply an increasingly diversified demand for psychoactive substances.’

The figures are from the year 2008 and the UN says drug deaths are recorded differently in different countries. The British deaths are among a population of 61 million and compare to 1,638 deaths in Spain, which has a population of 46 million, 1,449 in Germany (population 81 million) and 484 in Italy (population 60 million). The US, home to 308 million people, had 38,396 drug related deaths. Britain, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Spain and Germany account for 80 per cent of all drug related deaths in Europe, the report shows.

Crime prevention minister Baroness Angela Browning said in the year to March officials seized 1,951 kg of cocaine or crack, 473 kg of heroin, and 1,012 kg of other class A drugs. ‘This report demonstrates the need for a renewed focus in dealing with the global drugs market to properly protect our communities,’ she added. Michael Linnell, from the drug and alcohol charity Lifeline, said he had seen a ‘dramatic’ fall in the number of young people taking heroin. He added: ‘Most of the people who are heroin addicts are in middle age and have been taking the drug for many years which takes its toll on their health and kills them. ‘But by far the biggest problem we face is from alcohol, both from the number of deaths and the impact it has on society.’

http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/WDR2011/World_Drug_Report_2011_ebook.pdf

In April The Guardian reported that the Government's expert drug advisers were to publish their first significant review of the harms caused by cocaine use this week to counter the "increasingly common" idea that it is a relatively safe drug. The increasing popularity of cocaine use among young adults in recent years has put Britain at the top of the European "league table" for cocaine abuse – a position it has held for six out of the last seven years.

Cocaine is the second most popular drug in Britain, after cannabis, with its use increasing markedly in the past decade from 0.6% of 16 to 59 year olds reporting use to the British Crime Survey to 2.4% in 2009-10. This is equivalent to nearly 800,000 people reporting that they have used it within the last year. Among those aged 16 to 24, the increase in use has been even sharper from 1.3% to 5.5% in 2009-10 – or about 367,000 teenagers and young adults.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) wanted to launch its review of cocaine last year but was delayed by requests for advice from the home secretary, Theresa May, on banning the new generation of designer drugs or "legal highs" such as spice and mephedrone. The drug council chairman, Professor Les Iversen, recently wrote to the May telling her: "The ACMD has previously indicated that it would initiate a review of cocaine and that this review would be focused on the nature of the trade, its prevalence in the UK and the harms of the drug – not classification issues. "As you are aware, the substantial work the ACMD has undertaken on the legal highs agenda has prevented it from having resource to initiate this review, however, the ACMD is now in a position to start this with immediate effect." Iversen, who took over from Prof David Nutt after he was sacked, said that he was firmly of the view that cocaine is, and should remain, a class A drug. He said that the council has never looked at cocaine as a single substance in its 40 year history and the review was needed to reinforce public health work to reduce its harmful effects. It would tackle "the need to disabuse the misapprehension that cocaine is a relatively safe drug".

The decision to prioritise the cocaine review means that a similar investigation into the use of Qat, requested by the home secretary in February, is likely to be delayed. Qat is a leafy green plant whose leaves are chewed and used as a stimulant principally among Britain's Somali community. The drug advisers are also finalising their official advice on the wider implications of the emergence of the "legal highs" phenomenon and make further recommendations for tackling suppliers and reducing market demand.

A Hebridean Curry

Pouring over holiday brochures for sunny and hot climes is a ritual enjoyed by many in this country, and sometimes more than once a year these days. A combination of lack of money and an inbuilt suspicion of packaged holidays has meant that this is not a ritual I have taken part in very often. Holidays are not something I've had a lot of.

However a recent two nights and one night excursion to the Isle of Skye and Glencoe respectively leads me to think that I must get away more. I have seen them before but I think I must see more of Scotland. I've been to Skye and Glencoe before many many years ago, but the scenery never fails to astonish and evoke awe. For sure you have to consider that rain is very likely but it only adds to the atmosphere. They are simply the most stunning of landscapes, on our very own doorstep.

At times you are looking at a scene that has been gazed at for thousands of years. A mountain that looks as if it harbours infinite secrets - the majestic, perfect shape of Buchaille Etive Mhor on the road to Glencoe. In Glencoe itself one cannot ignore the story of the Government sponsored assassination of the McDonald clan in 1692. The Glen is dark, heavy and foreboding and over 300 years later it feels as if the Glen's very pores still ooze the tragedy in a tone of lamentation.

The Clachaig Inn claims to have been in Glencoe for over 300 years therefore it may well have opened it's doors to the warring clansmen. Catering much to the walkers and climbers but very welcoming to the sight seeing tourists, one cannot imagine an Inn with more dramatic surroundings. This was a place with a warm atmosphere, a great selection of beers at non tourist prices and pub meals, which while slightly pricey were of really good quality. The Inn appears to work really hard at creating an identity. It provides a wealth of information about the local area from its website . It is linked to CAMRA (real-ale) and it has regular live music playing one of the bars.

Glencoe appeals to walkers, climbers and tourists alike. The Isle of Skye does so too but with a greater emphasis on the capital T of tourism. Perhaps its island remoteness makes this all the more necessary but the twists and turns of Skye's roads are adequately dotted with the cottages of the B&B trade. The towns of Skye (mainly Broadford and its "capital", Portree) are adeptly focussed on the tourist experience, with craft shops, art galleries, boat trips, accommodation and of course the all important pubs and restaurants. I say restaurants. Some of them were offering pub grub at restaurants prices, which in real money was basically about twice the price of an equivalent pub meal in Dundee. Of course Skye also has its fair share of highly regarded restaurants, not least the Three Chimneys and Lady Claire MacDonald's Kinloch Lodge.

A real find was "The Prince of India" in Portree. I could not believe that there was a curry house on Skye! Yet there it was offering an array curries well known to any curry fanatic. The Chicken Jalfrezi and a Balti Chicken Madras at our table were of a pretty good quality and they would have beaten many a Dundee curry house hands down. There's a lot to be said for eating Indian in the Inner Hebrides.