DOCTORS should break patient confidentiality to inform local authorities of all drug addicts with school-age children, according to one of Scotland's leading drugs experts. Professor Neil McKeganey, head of Glasgow University's Centre for Drug Misuse Research, said family doctors needed to share information in the interests of children's welfare. He made his comments as he revealed details of the first comprehensive study into the impact of drug abuse on the children of addicts. McKeganey estimates that 20,000 children in Scotland have a parent who is an addict. He said that the doctor-patient relationship may even be making the lives of the children more difficult. [continues 374 words]
The location of Scotland's first US-style drugs court is to be announced. Details of the specialist court will be revealed on Wednesday by Deputy Justice Minister Iain Gray. The courts, which are already established in the United States and Canada, work by dealing with drug-using offenders separately. The Scottish Executive is keen to develop a similar system on this side of the Atlantic in an effort to curb the drugs problem. It is estimated that more than 30,000 people in Scotland use drugs, and many can find themselves caught in a cycle of crime to feed their habit. [continues 176 words]
New Squad Could Take Over Major Criminal Inquiries A new Scottish police force to tackle organised crime could be set up within two years pending Executive approval, it has been reported. A new ninth police force would be independent of Scotland's eight other police forces and would answer directly to Justice Minister Jim Wallace. The Sunday Mail newspaper reported that planning was at an advanced stage for the new force, which would target major figures in the drugs trade and criminal underworld. [continues 386 words]
EDINBURGH: Scotland has given the go-ahead to a new initiative on Thursday to introduce U.S.-style "drug courts" to tackle the country's epidemic of drug-related crime. The specialist courts proposed by the Scottish executive will offer drug users treatment to help them kick the habit, rather than sending them to jail. "The beauty of drug courts is that they bring enforcement and treatment together in a way that can effectively remove drug users from a life of criminality," deputy justice minister Iain Gray said on Thursday . [continues 249 words]
MINISTERS in the Scottish Parliament are being urged to let the country be used as a testing ground for Dutch-style cannabis cafes. The plan was put forward as the debate over legalising the drug intensifies. Angus MacKay, the deputy Scottish Justice Minister, will meet Margo MacDonald, the Scottish National Party MSP, today to discuss proposals to set up a Scottish commission to look into the use of cannabis. Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish Socialist Party leader, has called on MSPs to support a move at Westminster calling for cannabis to be legalised for an experimental four years. It follows a suggestion by The Daily Telegraph to legalise cannabis for a trial period. [continues 120 words]
One woman or man is drugged and raped in scotland every three days. And new research says the actual number of date rapes could be as much as five times higher. The shocking statistics emerged yesterday as a new report highlighted the growing threat of drug-induced date rapes across the UK. One victim, Nina Richards, said: "Because you're awake and there you blame yourself." A Government-funded study has exposed date rape as the new crime of the 21st Century. The study led by senior policeman Peter Sturman called for an overhaul of the law and harsher punishments for attackers. [continues 327 words]
SCIENTISTS have identified the toxin in a rogue batch of heroin which has killed 32 junkies. The Clostridium virus is thought to have come from dirt used to cut the drug by dealers to reduce its potency and make it go further. A total of 16 addicts have died in Glasgow from a batch of the infected heroin, sparking a nationwide probe. Different strains of the virus can cause gangrene, tetanus and botulism The victims had injected heroin straight into a muscle because they could not find a vein. [continues 242 words]
ONE of the first tasks Scottish ministers took on last year was a study of youth crime, the results of which are unveiled tomorrow. The problem is not in dispute. The executive members went in search of practical solutions. What they learned is that prison does not work. It breeds despair and sometimes suicide. It locks up young people who might yet go straight with career criminals who will never do so. Life in jail educates the novice thief or burglar to advanced level - and does nothing to combat drug addiction, so often the underlying cause of crime. [continues 279 words]
MY CANDIDATE for the next honours list is a pharmacist from Aberdeen, whom I will call Mr Coulter for his own protection. Upright and rational, he is instantly recognisable as a certain type of dependable Scot. In the past he would have engineered bridges and administered the Empire. The modern-day Mr Coulter, who runs a friendly chemist's shop, is still in the front line, as a participant in Aberdeen's methadone-dispensing scheme. What this means is that 30 heroin addicts come into his shop each day and drink their prescribed methadone with a glass of water under supervision by staff. [continues 1094 words]
THE Government is to launch a crackdown on drug abuse in Scotland's prisons. The Scottish Executive has allocated an extra Pounds 1million to reduce the number of addicts behind bars. The move follows a siege at Glenochil prison when 25 inmates barricaded themselves in a wing in a dispute triggered by drugs. [end]
THE boss of Scotland's new drug busting agency yesterday vowed to smash organised drugs crime. Former Strathclyde Assistant Chief Constable Jim Orr has been appointed Director of the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency. At the official launch of the Paisley-based agency, the Pounds 88,000-a-year director said: "There have been 44 deaths in Strathclyde this year and 71 in total throughout Scotland and that is of great concern to us. "Addicts are playing Russian roulette because they don't know what they are injecting into their veins. The strength can be 20, 40 or even as high as 60 per cent. [continues 132 words]
THE menace of crack cocaine is spreading to every Scottish city, with police intelligence sources suggesting it is now being manufactured in this country. The drug, which is said to be instantly addictive and can send users into uncontrollable fits of violent rage, has been found in Edinburgh for the first time. While previous indications were that crack is mainly imported following the seizure in Grampian of an 18,000 UKP shipment last year, detectives in Edinburgh now believe crude and potentially dangerous processes are being used to produce the rock-like cocaine derivative in the capital. The head of Lothian and Borders drugs squad, Detective Chief Inspector Ian Ross, said that while seizures have not been significant so far, they do indicate that smoking crack cocaine may be the next narcotic trend. [continues 78 words]
THE number of hard drug addicts has been severely underestimated and Scots children are getting hooked at an earlier age, according to evidence given to MSPs yesterday. One voluntary worker sounded a note of despair by claiming that "the war on drugs has been lost". The Scottish parliament's social inclusion committee heard that the number of drug addicts in Glasgow is at least a third more than the official figure. Billy Fox, the development officer of the Glasgow Association of Family Support Groups, which has won high praise from MSPs in the past, said: "The scale of the problem is horrendous. This is the worst I've seen it." [continues 413 words]
Health experts investigating a mystery infection which has killed 11 heroin users in Glasgow believe a spate of similar deaths in California may offer some important clues, The Observer has learned. Five addicts in San Francisco died in a three-week period last year from horrific infections contracted after injecting drugs. As with the Glasgow cases, the victims developed large abscesses around the injecting area which spread rapidly as their condition deteriorated. On 16 June last year, San Francisco's public health department warned injecting drug users of a potentially deadly bacteria. The advice, similar to that issued earlier this month in Glasgow, stated: 'Injection drug users who develop swelling, redness, warmth, pain or tenderness at or near an injection site should seek medical attention immediately.' [continues 459 words]
THE Prince of Wales asked a multiple sclerosis sufferer yesterday if she had tried using cannabis to help her condition. Prince Charles, on the fourth day of a week of engagements in Scotland, put the question to June McLachlan, 52, during a visit to the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow. She told him that she would be willing to try it, but feared she would be "out of her mind" if she smoked the drug. The prince then advised her to "stick to reflexology". The Scottish courts have recently shown leniency to several MS sufferers facing drugs charges after they admitted using cannabis to alleviate their symptoms, and senior police officers and politicians have called for its use to be approved for medical reasons. Alistair Ramsay, the director of Scotland Against Drugs, said the prince's question was "understandable". He added: "I am sure it goes through anybody's mind talking to an MS sufferer whether or not they have tried the full range of treatments." [end]
ANTHRAX could be responsible for the spate of deaths among heroin addicts in Glasgow. Scientists at the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research at Porton Down, Wiltshire, found signs of the infection after testing the blood of two Scottish patients, according to a report in today's New Scientist magazine. Public health experts in Glasgow last night confirmed they were considering anthrax as part of their investigations after 10 heroin addicts died and 15 were left seriously ill. The New Scientist report revealed that anthrax bacilli was found in the spinal fluid of a Norwegian addict who died in April after injecting heroin into muscle. [continues 511 words]
THE mystery illness sweeping Glasgow's drug community claimed its tenth victim yesterday, writes Mark Daly. The unnamed man died in Stobhill Hospital after being admitted suffering from serious abscesses as a result of injecting heroin. A spokeswoman for Greater Glasgow Health Board said the cause of death had been multi-organ failure. Health experts are still investigating the cause of the outbreak, which has affected 20 intravenous drug users over the past three weeks. Of the ten fatalities, eight are female. Ten people are detained in hospital, although their conditions are not giving cause for concern. [end]
Three more heroin addicts in Glasgow are seriously ill after using an apparently contaminated batch of the drug. Two women and a man have been taken to hospital in Glasgow since Friday. Twenty-five people have now been affected by the contaminated heroin, the origin of which remains unknown. Nine people, eight of them women, have died. All those affected have developed a serious abscess as a result of injecting into muscle or accidentally outside a vein. Yesterday, Greater Glasgow Health Board said the three addicts had similar symptoms to all the drug users who had already been admitted to hospital. [continues 136 words]
FIVE more drug addicts fell victim to the heroin sickness sweeping Strathclyde yesterday, as support agencies in Fife were told a contaminated batch of drugs may be circulating in their area. The new cases, which came to light over the weekend and who were last night being treated in Glasgow hospitals, bring to 25 the total number of addicts affected by the tainted heroin, the origin of which remains unknown. Nine people, eight of them women, have died from the illness so far. All those infected have developed serious abscesses as a result of injecting into muscle or accidentally outside a vein. [continues 250 words]
An anti-drugs conference, described as the biggest in the UK, has opened Glasgow and is expected to be attended by about 32,000 young people. The two-day event, organised by Strathclyde Police, is designed to take a "child-friendly" look at some of the sensitive issues facing youngsters. The conference is taking place as an investigation continues into the deaths of six drug users in the Govanhill area of Glasgow in just 11 days. Public health officials said they believed a rogue batch of heroin or a substance in the citric acid used by addicts to dissolve the drug was to blame. [continues 344 words]
ONE of Glasgow's most notorious criminal figures, who walked free from two murder charges and served a string of prison sentences, has been shot dead in a suspected contract killing. Frank McPhie, 51, was killed by a single bullet to his head, fired at point blank range as he stood outside the family's tenement home in Guthrie Street, Maryhill. Police said the father-of-four had been alone. McPhie, despite two not proven verdicts on murder charges, spent much of the past 20 years in jail for a series of offences involving assault and robbery, firearms and drugs. [continues 648 words]
Police and public health officials in Glasgow are trying to identify what might have killed eight heroin addicts and left 11 more seriously ill in the past two weeks. The search for an explanation has centred on the possibility that a batch of contaminated citric acid, which addicts use to dissolve heroin before injecting, may be to blame. In most of the cases the illness has started as an abscess at the point where heroin had been injected. Abscesses are not uncommon among drug users but in the recent cases they became uncharacteristically large and severe. [continues 183 words]
POLICE have begun an investigation into the cause of a mysterious illness which has killed eight heroin addicts in Glasgow, seven of them women, and "poisoned" 11 others. John Orr, the Strathclyde Chief Constable, said yesterday that a special unit, headed by a senior officer, had been set up to investigate the deaths, described as the most serious illness among drug users in the city in a decade. Health officials hope to be able to identify within days the cause of the illness. [continues 248 words]
A ninth junkie has died of a mysterious infection hitting heroin addicts across Glasgow. The woman was taken to hospital with multiple abscesses yesterday but died just 20 minutes after arriving. While 11 have survived the infection from a diseased batch of heroin sweeping the city, yesterday's death brings the number of victims to 20. A further five men were admitted to hospitals in the past 24 hours with small abscesses - but they have been ruled out of the poison investigation. [continues 211 words]
A CANADIAN judge has called on the Scottish Executive to set up special drug courts for addicts who steal to feed their habit. The courts, already running in America and Canada, deal with non-violent drug offenders and use rehabilitation instead of prison as punishment. Judge Paul Bentley told a conference at the National Police College in Tulliallan, Clackmannanshire, that they had already been a success. He added: "We are very encouraged. Our first year assessment showed three quarters of those in the programme have not committed another crime, are drug free and have found a stable home and full-time job. "I think it would an option the Scottish Executive might want to consider." [end]
THE introduction of American-style drugs courts in Scotland moved a step closer yesterday after a fact-finding mission by Government ministers. Angus MacKay, the Scottish drugs minister, said he was impressed by the effect the courts had in tackling New York's rising level of drugs-related crime and was optimistic that a similar system could be introduced in Scotland. His remarks followed a visit yesterday to a drugs court in Queens, New York, that has helped halve drugs crime in the city. Mr MacKay said: "It is certainly something we will investigate further." [continues 135 words]
POT SHOT: Orr says targeting dope users is 'waste of resources' SCOTLAND'S top policeman yesterday claimed that arresting cannabis smokers would be a waste of time and money. In an exclusive Record interview, Strathclyde Chief Constable John Orr said: "I could send officers out today and they could arrest 5000 people smoking cannabis." But he said that would be "a waste of my officers' resources" and stressed his main target was "the dealers of death". Orr insisted he was by no means advocating the legalisation of cannabis and added: "It's a matter of priorities in how we police the drugs debate. [continues 896 words]
Educationists Surprised By Findings And Deny Violence Problems In Schools Around a third of 11- to 16-year-old boys and 8% of girls in Scotland have carried weapons ranging from flick knives to replica pistols and knuckle-dusters, according to a survey carried out in schools. The study, published in this week's British Medical Journal, found that those who used drugs were more likely to carry weapons. Boys tended to be more heavily armed the more drugs they used, the researchers from Glasgow University say. [continues 570 words]
A THIRD of Scottish schoolboys and one in 12 girls have admitted carrying a formidable armoury of weapons, directly linked to their use of drugs, doctors have found. Bladed weapons were the most commonly carried and included flick knives, switch blades, Stanley knives, craft and hunting knives, machetes, swords and razors. Bludgeons included baseball bats, clubs, metal pipes and snooker cues. Other weapons carried were knuckle dusters, catapults, screwdrivers and hammers. Prof Neil McKeganey of the Centre for Drug Misuse at Glasgow University, said: "We were completely surprised by the high level of weapons and the range was quite shocking." The survey of 3,000 11 to 16 year olds found boys who took illegal drugs were three times more likely to carry weapons and girls who used drugs were five times more likely to arm themselves compared to children who did not use drugs. [continues 299 words]
ALCOHOL is the most commonly misused drug among Scottish schoolchildren, but the vast majority does not indulge in illegal drugs. This is the finding of report into drug education in Scottish schools over the past three years. The study found that 15% of primary six pupils and 75% of fifth year secondary pupils drank alcohol at least once a week. On the other hand, almost all primary and 77% of secondary pupils do not misuse drugs. The great majority are against their use and any regular misuse is among older pupils who smoke cannabis. [continues 442 words]
A Labour MP is to introduce a bill to Parliament which would decriminalise the use of cannabis. Paul Flynn's bill follows the release of a Police Foundation report advocating liberalisation of Britain's drug laws and the end of the use of prison sentences to punish cannabis offences. Mr Flynn, MP for Newport West, says he believed there had been a major change in public attitudes towards drug use, and that Britons now understood that the UK's tough drug laws were causing more problems than they were solving. [end]
THE launch of a high-profile 500,000 campaign to combat drugs problems in Scotland has been marred by the announcement that a project to help young people on drugs is set to close because of a shortage of funds. The 500,000 "Deal drugs a blow" initiative was launched in Edinburgh yesterday by Scotland Against Drugs (SAD). The first campaign of its kind in the UK, the project aims to implement anti-drugs ideas from the public, while encouraging businesses to fund the projects in cash or in kind. [continues 404 words]
New Scottish study shows that boys are smoking less cannabis while female pupils are smoking more By Tom Peterkin Health Correspondent THE 'girl power' phenomenon as epitomised by the Spice Girls may be behind an alarming rise in the use of drugs by teenage girls. A new study of Scottish schoolchildren has shown that cannabis smoking has risen by 17% among 15-year-old girls over the last four years, while young men are smoking less. As many as one in five teenage girls is thought to be a regular cannabis user according to the survey, which also showed that girls are far more likely to sniff glue or abuse tranquillisers than boys. [continues 633 words]
We Have Some Of The Harshest Sentencing In Europe. In The Last Of His Series, Lord Mccluskey, Scotland's Most Outspoken Judge, Examines The High Cost Of Proving Crime Does Not Pay One of the most difficult things that a judge of the High Court has to do is to pass sentence on a person convicted before him. The crimes and offences brought to the High Court are those regarded by the Lord Advocate as the most serious: he chooses which court to prosecute in, though some of the worst crimes, such as murder and rape, must be prosecuted in the High Court. [continues 2159 words]
MO MOWLAM, the minister in charge of the government's anti-drugs strategy, admitted yesterday that she had smoked cannabis while a student. The disclosure came after Claudia Beyer, a former colleague of Dr Mowlam at Iowa State University in the 1970s, said she had seen her with a cannabis cigarette at a party. Dr Mowlam's admission, and the muted reaction it drew from all sides of the political spectrum, will raise pressure onthe government to consider a rethink of the law on "soft" drugs. [continues 689 words]
Strathclyde Total For 1999 Increases To Record 148 After Man Is Found Dead In His Room At Hostel For Homeless THE YEAR in which Strathclyde recorded its highest number of drug-related fatalities, ended yesterday with the deaths of two more people attributed to drug abuse. The death of Brian Miller, 33, at a hostel for the homeless in Glasgow, brought to 148 the total number of people in the region who died in 1999 as a result of drug misuse. [continues 703 words]
A LEADING health manager has called for detailed research into the cause of the spiralling drug problem, following a spate of deaths among young people. The demand was made after the number of drug-related deaths in a single year hit new peaks in both the Strathclyde and Grampian police force areas. The toll of victims across Scotland in 1999 is also expected to create a grim record. A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out today on one of the most recent victims, Kerry-Ann Kirk, 15. It is expected to confirm the Coatbridge schoolgirl died after experimenting with methadone, the heroin substitute. [continues 647 words]
A young North-east man died on Christmas Day after he is believed to have taken ecstasy at a party. Grampian Police today confirmed Craig Rennie, 23, of Ellon, was the region's latest suspected drugs victim. Drug deaths in the North-east will reach a tragic record of 31 if a post mortem examination confirms Mr Rennie died as a result of taking the drug. The forklift operator's family were being comforted at their home in Ellon's Coopers Court and were today too upset to speak. [continues 222 words]
Survey Shock: Scots Politicians Favour Decriminalising Cannabis A THIRD of MSPs want cannabis to be decriminalised, a new survey has revealed. And more than half of them want the drug to be available for medical use, on doctors' prescriptions. The findings are certain to add to mounting pressure for a change in the laws relating to soft drugs. The poll for a Sunday paper found that, out of the 54 who responded, 37 favoured a relaxation of the law to help sufferers of diseases such as multiple sclerosis. [continues 713 words]
GLASGOW, Scotland - Hugh McCartney, 23, died alone and in despair in a derelict, boarded-up public-housing project scheduled for demolition in one of Glasgow's most deprived neighborhoods. He had known that drugs would kill him someday. In his wallet, police found a note, clearly intended for his family, that he had kept there for some time: "Don't feel guilty, just feel happy I am not putting myself through any more punishment." McCartney was the 107th person to die of a drug overdose this year in Strathclyde, a Scottish region with a population of 2 million that includes Glasgow. In the two weeks since, the number has risen to 111 and by year's end is expected to total between 120 and 130, well over 10 percent of all drug deaths in Britain. [continues 921 words]
Closed-circuit television is expected to be installed in school playgrounds after new research showed that one in three 12-year-olds has been offered drugs. The measure, which could be piloted in Scotland, is being considered by ministers north of the border who want to protect pupils being targeted by pushers. It follows growing evidence of drugs in an environment where parents traditionally believed their children to be safe. In one recent case heroin worth more than pounds 500 was found in the schoolbag of an 11-year-old boy in a Govan primary school. [continues 201 words]
Court Strips Jailed Smuggler Of Cannabis Cash ONE of Scotland's biggest drug barons has been ordered to hand over pounds 250,000 from his dope-running profits. John Healy, 41, who is serving 10 years for his part in a major cannabis smuggling ring, was given a year to hand over the cash. Arrogant Healy turned and smiled to supporters at the High Court in Edinburgh as Lord Osborne made the confiscation order - one of the biggest ever in Scotland. [continues 395 words]
An Aberdeen man was yesterday found guilty of being concerned in the supply of amphetamine in the city. Graeme Craig, 37, of 16 Oscar Place, was convicted after a three-day trial at the High Court in Aberdeen. Sentence has now been deferred for background reports until the end of this month. The trial had heard how officers had uncovered class B amphetamine, known as speed, with a street-value of UKP28,000 to UKP100,000, in Craig's council flat in Victoria Road, Torry, last October. [continues 352 words]
FIRST Minister Donald Dewar yesterday delivered a public rebuke to two Labour MSPs who said they wanted an inquiry into whether cannabis should he legalised. He left Kate MacLean and Cathie Peattie in no doubt they had gone too far by airing their controversial views in public. MacLean caused a furore on Monday when she admitted she had smoked dope for years when she was younger. Labour chiefs sought to disown her comments but said no action would be taken against her. [continues 197 words]
The father of ecstasy victim Leah Betts warned yesterday that hard-pressed teachers should not have to bear sole responsibility for drugs education in schools. Speaking on what would have been his daughter's 22nd birthday, Mr Paul Betts welcomed the Scottish Executive's plan, announced yesterday, to issue draft guidelines for teachers on how to handle drugs incidents in schools. He said: "Teachers are overburdened now and will need a lot of help, a lot of guidance, and a lot of support. It is another tool in an already very heavy handbag. What I do hope is that they will not expect teachers to take over the complete training of drug education and thereby prevent other people from going in and passing on their experience." [continues 259 words]
A top New York drug-buster told Scots police how to drive heroin traffickers out of business yesterdlay - as a 16-year-old girl became Strathclyde's 114th drugs victim this year. The body of Michelle Kearney was found in a house in Glasgow's Maryhill area just hours before Police Commissioner Howard Safir outlined strategies to hunt down dealers. Michelle, of Springburn, Glasgow, is thought to have OD'd on heroin. And yesterday Safir vowed that the supply of deadly drugs could be cut off using his Model Block programme, which puts dealers out of business by claiming drug dens for the community. [continues 539 words]
Support Is Growing For The Legalisation Of Cannabis, But Why Do Our MSPs Not Act? David Rendell has cancer of the lymph glands. Jonathan Wilson has stomach cancer. Elizabeth Ivol, Bill Reeve and Claire Hodges have multiple sclerosis. They use cannabis to get relief from pain. A smoke or some hash mixed in food gives them much-needed relief without the nauseating side effects of prescribed drugs. They are harming no one and improving the quality of their difficult daily lives, yet, disgracefully, their use of cannabis makes them criminals in the eyes of the law. [continues 759 words]
A top New York drugbuster told Scots police how to drive heroin traffickers out of business yesterday - as a 16-year-old girl became Strathclyde's 114th drugs victim this year. The body of Michelle Kearney was found in a house in Glasgow's Maryhill area just hours before Police Commissioner Howard Safir outlined strategies to hunt down dealers. Michelle, of Springburn, Glasgow, is thought to have OD'd on heroin. And yesterday Safir vowed that the supply of deadly drugs could be cut off using his Model Block programme, which puts dealers out of business by reclaiming drug dens for the community. [continues 540 words]
THE Government promised yesterday to step up the war on dealers after the toll of drugs-related deaths in Strathclyde this year climbed to 101. The body of James Kiernan, 26, from Paisley, was found at a house in Millgate Road, Hamilton yesterday. A post-mortem examination is expected to confirm he died from an overdose. The body of Catherine Devine, 23, was found at a house in Low Waters Road, Hamilton, on Thursday. It is believed Ms Devine, who lived in Arden Terrace, suffered from an overdose. A post-mortem examination will be carried out. [continues 607 words]
THE DEATH toll among drug users in Strathclyde, which covers the Glasgow area, is expected this week to reach a record total of 100 for 1999, more than the whole of last year. This year's figure, likely to grow substantially in the remaining four months of the year, reflects a growing heroin epidemic in Scotland's biggest city. Police and social services have become increasingly alarmed as the total has risen steadily towards the milestone 100th victim, whose death is likely to raise the issue to the forefront of public debate. [continues 406 words]
Inside Scotland
