BACK in the days when I was a crime reporter in Newcastle, I got to know a heroin user. To fund his habit, Sean became a self-styled "Border reiver". He and his team would make trips to Scotland where they would carry out raids on social clubs, petrol stations and newsagents. On his return, he would stop off at a house in the former pit town where he lived and emerge with a piece of paper containing his next fix. [continues 998 words]
QC hired to monitor appeals by Netherlands four jailed after Scots customs man died By Dani Garavelli Chief Reporter The Dutch government has hired a leading QC to brief them on the fate of four of their countrymen who are appealling against their Scottish conviction for drugs smuggling. Concern has been raised in Holland about the conduct of the legal case into Operation Balvenie, one of Scotland's largest ever drugs stings, in which customs officer Alastair Soutar was killed. The move comes after a number of documentaries highlighting the case on Dutch television and questions were raised in the Dutch parliament. [continues 590 words]
As fatal overdoses increase, seizure of banned Temazepam shows drug abusers are finding new supply lines THE dramatic rise in drugs deaths in the west of Scotland is being fuelled by a resurgence in the use of Temazepam - two years after the government changed the law in an attempt to block its supply. The capsule form of the tranquilliser is being smuggled in from abroad in large quantities by dealers posing as pharmaceutical wholesalers, according to public health experts and Strathclyde police. [continues 482 words]
The record label boss who discovered Oasis is compiling a Band Aid-type album as part of an on-going campaign for the decriminilisation of cannabis. Scots-born Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records, has already approached top British acts, including Paul Weller, Cast, Super Furry Animals and Asian Dub Foundation, to take part. All profits are to go to the Stapleford Trust, a London-based charity which carries out research into addiction. McGee, a former addict, was himself treated by Dr Colin Brewer, medical director at the private Stapleford Addiction Unit. [continues 380 words]
