Like many, it saddens me to see the yearly increase in drugs deaths in Scotland, and while there are many commendable solutions put forward, we surely miss the real point here – why do our young men and women see their lives as so hopeless that they need to lose themselves in drug or drink addiction?
I fear that many people leave school without any qualifications, live in a poor council estate in most cases, and feel the only jobs on offer are minimum wage, which they see as dull and repetitive. Add to that middle-aged addicts, who simply can’t or won’t stop using.
I understand that many who live in rural parts of the UK find it hard to get work, and travelling to neighbouring towns and cities to do so means extra cost, which many simply see as a barrier to actually finding employment.
So the real challenge for governments, not only here but worldwide, is to try to find jobs, and find ways of supporting those who show willingness to work by providing free or heavily subsidised transport to get them there and back.
The free bus pass is a help for under 22s, and I feel we should explore all means to help people into work, and get them focused.
A month’s salary at least provides a young person with an alternative to drugs in that it gives them access to gyms, cinemas and the ability to buy a small car or moped on finance.
Sadly, mainly long-term addicted souls will benefit from legal access to drugs, or the so-called injecting rooms, but I want to steer our young people away from simply providing drugs, and give them something to aspire to and get them to stay away from this lifestyle.
Andrew Lamb, Fraserburgh.
NHS staff are trying to save lives
It is absolutely diabolical that NHS staff have to suffer verbal and physical abuse when they are just trying to do their jobs.
Do these so-called patients not realise that it is these dedicated and committed doctors and nurses who are trying to help them, and stop them from dying?
NHS staff regularly work long stressful hours, and these morons, who probably think the world should stop turning for them, should be grateful for the privileges that they seem to take for granted.
JH
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