SCOTTISH Conservative leader Douglas Ross has lodged draft legislation to apparently attempt to tackle Scotland’s drug deaths. Mr Ross’s Right to Recovery Bill would enshrine in law the right to receive treatment, including residential rehabilitation, presumably in a fixed timescale.
The Scottish Government said it would consider backing the bill, which seems a bit odd. Why would a government need or want to impose such legislation on itself? What would be the potential penalties for breaching this legislation? Who would be fined or jailed? Would the chief executives and directors of our health boards be punished in some way?
READ MORE: Douglas Ross's Right to Recovery Bill 'not radical or practical', expert says
The number of people on hospital waiting lists in Scotland has increased by almost 15,000 in three months, according to the latest figures. More than 553,000 were waiting for outpatient or inpatient treatment at the end of March, equivalent to about one in 10 of the population. The waiting list is the highest since statistics were recorded in their current form about a decade ago, and almost one in nine had been waiting for more than a year. Public Health Scotland statistics released on Tuesday showed 155,405 patients were waiting to be seen for key diagnostic tests in the NHS including colonoscopy, CT scans and MRI scans.
As with many Tory political initiatives, Mr Ross and his cronies seek media headlines by pretending they somehow care, and addressing the symptoms of a problem while ignoring the root causes.
READ MORE: Andrew Bowie breaks Scottish Tory MP ranks to question Boris Johnson's position
Illegal drug use is embedded in the poverty which blights so many lives in our land. Poverty which can be attributed to successive Tory government policies. Not all drug users are poor but the lack of a warm home, three decent meals a day and a regular job and adequate income go a long way to pushing vulnerable people into the dark world of illegal drugs.
While having more than a degree of sympathy for the users of illegal drugs, you have to wonder what effect their guaranteed right to treatment would have on the clearly under-resourced Scottish NHS. Should I perhaps ask my MSP to introduce legislation to guarantee hip replacements, CT scans or cataract treatments, or even a basic right to a face-to-face GP appointment within a few days?
Brian Lawson
Paisley
ONCE again the Tories in Scotland seek to divert attention from Bo-Jo’s problems by laying the blame for the ever-increasing drug misuse problem at the door of the Scottish Government.
May I first say that drug misuse has been going on for more than 100 years? Indeed the British Government (and the French one) were up to their ears in the “opium wars” of the mid 19th century (1856 – 1860)!! So to bring this more up-to-date and more applicable let’s just look at 1960 onwards.
As I recollect, the most popular drug at that time was marijuana. Now I must confess I never tried it myself, I never felt the need, but it was thought to be fairly harmless.
I must digress here to say it was not realised by users that it would lead to the use of harder, more dangerous drugs.
Now we get to the part about whose fault it is that the danger was not dealt with, and lives saved. From 1957-1963 we had a Conservative administration under Harold MacMillan, then Alec Douglas-Home, until Harold Wilson came along from 1964 till 1970. Not wishing to bore the readers, might I just explain that from 1960 till devolution in 1999, Great Britain was governed by eight Tory administrations, and five Labour administrations. Not a Scottish National in sight.
Then the Scots Tory and Labour parties discovered a drug death problem, in Scotland. Of course there’s no problem in England, they have come up with a cure down there. They’re just not telling us up here, hoping this will solve the independence referendum problem.
Dream on, D Ross. Is it perhaps time graphic photographs and videos were shown in schools highlighting what happens when a non-medical person shoves a needle in your arm or gives you a pill that’s NOT required for your best health.
Ian Rankine
Milngavie
LEGALISE the lot. After all, alcohol is legal, and arguably does as much harm. Legalisation would remove the organised crime associated with the present status, and also improve the quality of whatever substances people wish to consume. Plus, it would remove youths’ temptation to break the law for its own sake (Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting character, Mark Renton, said: “F*** it, we’d have injected ourselves with vitamin C if they’d made it illegal”).
George Morton
via thenational.scot
FOLLOWING Justin Welby’s call for forgiveness, which is based on full confession and contrition by the offender, in this case Prince Andrew has not confessed and shows no contrition as he still claims to be innocent. So therefore he cannot be forgiven.
Rab Doig
Bo’ness
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