Drugs in Shetland

[da ness tattie man]

I have read the following on the Shetland-News Website. Whilst reading it my first thought was how long is Shetland going to be a safe place.

“Currently there are 211 problem drugs users that are accessing community drugs services in Shetland. There is a year on year increase in users.

“There is a slight decrease in older drug takers that are using heroin. But younger people are using heroin more, when previously it was speed, ecstasy and cannabis that were the drugs of choice.â€

She added that it had become apparent that younger people in the isles are being targeted by dealers.

I find Shetland is a very safe and friendly place to go about my daily business. Twenty years ago I am sure the people in Aberdeen and Fraserburgh thought the same - Until HEROIN took over. Now on a daily basis (In Aberdeen) you hear of muggings, rapes, murder's homes being broken into and what other crimes that you can get money from.

I THINK IT IS TIME THAT WE TOOK A GOOD LOOK AT THOSE AROUND US AND START TO PHONE THE POLICE WITH OUR SUSPICIONS. I have phoned Crime Stoppers on three occasions about drink driver's, with two potential killer's being taken off the road.

My question is do you people think Heroin is a problem and who should be sorting the problem out.

[Styles]

Why would drugs make it less safe? Its only when people have a problem with it and no money problems start. Best thing to do would be to legalise it all and tax it.

[da ness tattie man]

Drugs will become a problem when the money starts to disapear from the Shetland economy. A herion addict on a £40.00 a day habit will use £320.00 a week. This is a lot of money for somebody that can't work to fund his habbit. So where does the user get his money - lose change left in a parked car - selling CD's left in a parked car maybe sneaks into a house left unlocked at night. You think about it and the user will have been there before you.

 

A good example of this the electrical items stolen from a parked car in Market Street last week. That stuff could the user going for a day or two before he goes out stealing again.

[trout]

Well where do you begin?

 

Heroin usage in the Isles in the last 30 years has always been there, though in small clustered groups of users, and never to the extent to which it prevails now.

 

Recently the issue in its prevalance in my opinion would appear to be the interaction of young men being sent down to Craig Inches and their close proximity to the NE Scottish prison population.

 

Yes, the NE of Scotland is rife with heroin usage! You just have to wander about Union Street - it's not hard to spot the feked up junkies. Go across to Torry and drink in any of the salubrious! bars they have around there .. or even in King Street to see it close up.

 

Then if you feel brave try some of the pubs in around "tha Broch" and you'll certainly have a front row seat in trainspotting.

 

I postulate that perhaps the rehabilitation of Shetlands youth in a prison system rife with the social ills of the NE Scottish mainland has been a contributory factor in the rise of heroin usage in Shetland.

 

I also postulate that since Shetland has previously never had the future social deprevation and future blight surrounding the isles currently that "heroin chic" never got a foothold.

 

Further I postulate that since this "disaffected youth" in Shetland sampling heroin has never been aware, apart from on television and what they read in papers, of the "disease" that is heroin - they have never born witness to the social damage it causes, they have never lost someone close to them to it, they have never watched a friend turn into a complete mutant you want nowhere near you, they have never been scared to walk around at night for fear of being mugged for the price of "a bag", they've never witnessed intravenous use in their face where needles are scattered around everywhere, the list goes on ....

 

My question is do you people think Heroin is a problem and who should be sorting the problem out.

I believe that heroin usage in Shetland at present is at a tipping weight. If the trend continues as it is then yes, I do see it being a serious problem in years to come. The levels of not only petty crime but more serious offences will soar !

 

Who should be dealing with it? The police for starters! - though I believe the problem will be exacerrated in "sending people down" and into the mainland Scotland prison system. People need to be rehabilitated yes, where I don't know. Lock them up in Mousa broch?

[Dr WHO]

Where do the drugs come from?

 

There are only three possibilities to consider on how the drug gets into Shetland, do the official need to drive this area harder….what are the recourses needed to deal with this problem?

 

Heroin and crack addicts in Shetland, is a horrible fact, but they are everywhere, the demographics of the world are changing so are the risks that the new age drug takers are taking.....it is sad that that is the goal of their life.

 

Some could say so what let them go to an early grave...but these people are someone’s sons or daughters, mothers or fathers, someone’s sibling.

 

People like to turn a blind eye until that word IFappears, as TROUT has pointed out, however da ness tattie man has his own agenda in how to deal with this situation, not everyone I’m sure would agree but good on him for his honesty.

 

There are some evil people in Shetland and elsewhere who are set on destroying as many lives in Shetland as possible with their never ending crusade of selling this low life drug, to weak people.

 

The problem stems from the root, dig it up, destroy it and have a problem free zone.

[Evil Inky]

My question is do you people think Heroin is a problem and who should be sorting the problem out.

 

To be honest, I think alcohol abuse is a much bigger problem.

[Dr WHO]

Evil Inky you may be right,

 

but I don't know the stats on Alcohol versus Drugs...I do know Alcohol is legal and drugs are not, this is the point I think is trying to be discussed on this forum.

 

Everyone knows the channels Alcohol comes through to the Isles.....freight by northlink ferries from the billion pound brewery industry, but the billion pound drug industry is a completely different ball game.

[Evil Inky]

Everyone knows the channels Alcohol comes through to the Isles.....freight by northlink ferries from the billion pound brewery industry, but the billion pound drug industry is a completely different ball game.

 

I don't think concentrating on how the drugs get here is the answer. If we can't keep drugs out of prisons, we're never going to keep them out of Shetland.

[Dr WHO]

Everyone knows the channels Alcohol comes through to the Isles.....freight by northlink ferries from the billion pound brewery industry, but the billion pound drug industry is a completely different ball game.

 

I don't think concentrating on how the drugs get here is the answer. If we can't keep drugs out of prisons, we're never going to keep them out of Shetland.

 

 

Prisons and drugs indeed is a problem as highlighted on the BBC news today.

 

But you appear to have a narrow view on this point; every angle must be explored in the fight against this evil drug and its misuse.

 

It is ignorant to presume that the Prison issue is the only factor encouraging the use of drugs,

 

What first leads innocent people to try the drug?.....how do they get the drug?.......and when they are hooked, where do they keep getting the drugs from on an Island?

 

Please forgive me if I am wrong but I was not aware of the fact it naturally grew on Shetland.

[Styumpie]

Shetland is unique in that we could more or less stop heroin and cocaine from coming in, with a bit of extra effort.

 

I have no problems with drugs like cannabis, as it does very little harm, I say let the police focus solely on the supply of cocaine and heroin, the drugs that are highly addictive and cause the damage.

 

Stop the drugs getting in, starve the supply and the problem will simply go away.

[Dr WHO]

Shetland is unique in that we could more or less stop heroin and cocaine from coming in, with a bit of extra effort.

 

I have no problems with drugs like cannabis, as it does very little harm, I say let the police focus solely on the supply of cocaine and heroin, the drugs that are highly addictive and cause the damage.

 

Stop the drugs getting in, starve the supply and the problem will simply go away.

 

Well said.....

[trout]

It is ignorant to presume that the Prison issue is the only factor encouraging the use of drugs,

 

I understand you aren't projecting this at me but I felt I must add to my previous statement regarding my impression of prison within this equation.

 

IMHO the prevelance and increase of hard drug users in Shetland (I'm talking about heroin specifically) in the last 5 - 10 years has been due to small time random users being sent to Craiginches. Within its confines heroin is close to being the drug of choice! As part of the opiate family it has a very short half life within the body and drug tests are readily passed with flying colours! Upon release these same small times users have needed to fund what is now a habit - and the easiest way was to sell the very same drug that they required themselves!

 

One thing has led to another, society being the thing that it is, and we are here where we are today.

 

I don't think concentrating on how the drugs get here is the answer. If we can't keep drugs out of prisons, we're never going to keep them out of Shetland.

 

Faffing around with the liberal rehabilitation for users on methadone programmes is not the be all and end all answer. Getting to the root as has been pointed out is! Yes, this is the hardest angle to come at - but is going to be the only one to cut out the problem!

 

I'm close to saying have a blind eye to all other drug users and remove the problem of heroin! Heroin is the one that will decimate the entire community of Shetland if it is not eradicated!

[Fjool]

Alcohol versus Drugs

 

First off - alcohol is a drug. It's high time that this convenient distinction was stopped. Just because it is legal, does not mean that it is safe. This is where our current drug approach falls flat on its ass, right at the first hurdle. What kind of a hypocrite can preach drug education at school when they're later seen pissed out of their skull at Up-Helly-Aa, and every other 'social' occasion? It's clear that those who are supposed to inform are only regurgitating nonsense they themselves have been fed.

 

The classes A,B,C are supposed to indicate 'relative danger' - in fact they do nothing of the sort. The system is flawed and nobody trusts it. How can you expect to educate children about drugs when we start with a bunch of lies, inconsistencies and ignorances? People will then have to make up their own minds. Lying to them on a subject is only going to make them mistrust the source when they discover the major flaws. After that, what chance do you stand of sensibly educating anyone?

 

The majority of problems with drugs are caused by them being illegal and the sooner we accept these things as part of life, the sooner we can properly educate on the topic.

 

Heroin, for example, is not being kept 'at bay' by its prohibition. All prohibition is doing is making the substance more dangerous for those who choose to use it. Those who fear a massively addicted population are ignoring the fact that not everyone chooses to smoke, or drink.

 

Prohibition does not work. It has never worked and has been shown to cause more problems than it solves. It is a policy borne of ignorance and lies. It is doomed to failure - it is failing spectacularly.

 

Perhaps it is true that 'younger people in the isles are being targetted by dealers' but dealers only exist due to prohibition. Treat these substances with the respect they deserve: educate, legislate and tax.

 

Why are we throwing an important revenue stream into the hands of terrorist organisations? This money should be going towards education and rehabilitation, not Al Queda.

[Evil Inky]

Everyone knows the channels Alcohol comes through to the Isles.....freight by northlink ferries from the billion pound brewery industry, but the billion pound drug industry is a completely different ball game.

 

I don't think concentrating on how the drugs get here is the answer. If we can't keep drugs out of prisons, we're never going to keep them out of Shetland.

 

What first leads innocent people to try the drug?.....how do they get the drug?.......and when they are hooked, where do they keep getting the drugs from on an Island?

 

Please forgive me if I am wrong but I was not aware of the fact it naturally grew on Shetland.

 

It doesn't naturally grow in prisons either. We are never going to achieve prison-style security at Sumburgh and the Northlink Terminal, which would involve frisking everybody who comes off the boat/plane, searching every vehicle that comes off the boat, and opening every piece of mail that arrives from the mainland. Even we could ( and actually wanted to ) achieve this level of security, the evidence from prisons suggest that drugs would still get through.

[Fjool]

Shetland is unique in that we could more or less stop heroin and cocaine from coming in, with a bit of extra effort.

 

Sorry but that is complete nonsense. You will never succeed if this is your aim. Without massive and draconian tactics - strip search every passenger (and yes, it's a sad fact that you would have to include the children to be certain you'd found everything), patrol every inch of coastline 24/7, search every vessel that arrives at every pier in Shetland, check each and every item in the post, every car, lorry and motorbike pannier on the ferry... even then it will still arrive by homing pigeons, or scuba divers or those who've wrangled their own immunity from such checks and can now make an absolute fortune.

 

It would require a tremendous and expensive effort at the cost of many liberties and rights we, the 'innocent' of society, deserve. The effort would be much better directed elsewhere and the benefits would be much greater. I'd rather see a relaxation of these policies and a greater emphasis on proper education, regulated supply and asccessible, compassionate rehabilitation for those who have problems with a substance. Criminalising these things is costing a fortune and the benefits are negligable.

 

All you end up doing is spending a fortune to drive the price of these things up, thus resulting in people taking bigger and bigger risks to afford their fix. You drive crime up and reduce supply and demand by almost none.