Scottish Drugs Forum
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25th November 2002
Recent media reports about the proportion of ecstasy-related deaths in Scotland, compared to those in England, were misleading.
Scotland was branded an ecstasy disaster zone when in several media reports, that stated that almost a third of the people who died after using the drug in the UK last year lived north of the border.
They claimed that official statistics showed that there were 20 ecstasy-related deaths in Scotland 2001, while in England and Wales 40 people died.
However, while the General Register Office for Scotland paper on Drug-Related Deaths in Scotland in 2001 shows that ecstasy was known to be involved in the deaths of 20 people, this does not mean that ecstasy was solely responsible for these deaths.
It is likely that ecstasy, in some cases in conjunction with alcohol, was primarily responsible for six of these deaths.
The issue was clarified in the Scottish Parliament by Deputy Justice Minister Richard Simpson, who explained that there were 10 deaths involving polydrug use, where it was not possible to identify the primary drug or drugs responsible. It should be noted, however, that all 10 of these cases involved an opiate, such as heroin, and/or a benzodiazepine. Whilst recorded as being present, ecstasy was not directly involved in the four remaining deaths.
The figure for England and Wales came from a study of deaths in 2001 by St George's Hospital Medical School, which uses a different methodology from the Scottish GRO, so the figures are not directly comparable.
23rd November 2002
Scotland's pilot drug court has been a success, according to the first six month report.
This is the first stage of a two-year evaluation of the effectiveness of the Glasgow drug court in reducing the level of drug-related offending behaviour, and reducing or eliminating an offenders' tendency to use drugs.
The courts, established at Glasgow Sheriff Court in October 2001, aims to reduce drug use and associated offending by offering treatment based options outside the traditional court setting.
Key findings of the report include:
The research report The Glasgow Drug Court in Action: The First Six Months, is published by Scottish Executive Social Research - download the report.
22nd November 2002
A report released last month suggests that smoking pure cannabis is just as harmful to lungs as tobacco.
The British Lung Foundation's report Cannabis - A Smoking Gun? report also indicates that, when cannabis and tobacco are smoked together, the effects are dramatically worsened.
It claims that three cannabis joints a day cause the same damage to the lining of the airways as 20 cigarettes.
Evidence suggests that tar from cannabis cigarettes contains 50 per cent more carcinogens (cancer-producing agents) than tobacco.
The report states that the health dangers of cannabis have substantially increased since the 1960s, due to increased amounts of THC in the cannabis consumed today. As a result longitudinal studies from 40 years ago cannot be taken as accurate.
The BLF recommends that the Government implements a public health education campaign on the health risks of cannabis, and calls for more research into cannabis and the lungs, and its potential link with the development of chronic lung disease.
Download the report(pdf file - right click to save)
4th November 2002
An alert has been received from the Director of PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre in England about a cluster of wound botulism cases in injecting drug users.
There has been one case in Scotland in the first part of 2002.
The Scottish Executive is keen to ensure that all drug services are made aware of this - download the English report here (MS Word format). It includes advice for injectors.