SCOTLAND IS A SMALL COUNTRY with some big problems . For too long we ’ ve accepted drug and alcohol problems as part of our society and culture . If we can look beyond these shores we will see brave people who have found creative solutions to their unique circumstances . It is time for us to be brave . Andrew Horne , Herald , 4 September |
IN WALES AND SCOTLAND minimum unit pricing is on the table or enacted . The government ’ s failure in England to act on price seems to disregard the weight of expert and empirical evidence . Such is the reality of having a tax funded , politically accountable NHS while public policy relating to wider determinants of health rests with other government departments , Treasury included . … My concern is that however switched on our health service and public health leaders may be , the funding and the wider social policy to make their ambitions a reality rely on ministers , government communications teams , and Treasury officials . These parties are late to the party . David Oliver , BMJ , 11 September |
WE CAN ’ T SIMPLY TELL YOUNG PEOPLE to ‘ say no to drugs ’ at festivals . It hasn ’ t worked for half a century and it won ’ t work now . Instead , we need a mitigating factor – and that ’ s what pill testing is . It ’ s not a silver bullet . But it is backed by international evidence . Shelley Smith , Guardian , 17 September
TO THE RELIEF OF ANYONE who for medical or cultural reasons isn ’ t getting sloshed and doesn ’ t feel like constantly explaining why , the stigma of not drinking may be wearing off . Personally , I ’ ve got no intention of going on the wagon . But a world where people are neither slut-shamed out of drinking , nor bullied into it ? I ’ ll raise a glass to that . Gaby Hinsliff , Guardian , 27 September
THE CULTURAL PULL OF TOBACCO , its hardiness in the face of hostility , may
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be weaker than it once was – those who would have smoked until they dropped are mostly now fogged in clouds of vape – but its survival instincts are those of a cockroach in the aftermath of an atomic strike . Eleven years ago , I watched as pubs erected smoking shelters for the incoming smoking ban ; I don ’ t see them pulling them down in the near future . Stuart Evers , Guardian , 24 September
REOFFENDING RATES ARE FAR TOO HIGH , few alternatives to custodial sentences are pursued – because of populist political pressure – and the result is more recidivism , more violence , more burglary , more crime generally and more emotional and financial costs loaded onto peaceful citizens when offenders are released . It is a classic example of a false economy . Independent editorial , 20 September
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