A blog post by Duncan Stott at Split Horizons is garnering some interest today. It suggests that there may be some unwanted consequences of criminalising mephedrone, or as it is more commonly known here in Angus, bubbles.

Duncan suggests that:

Mephedrone users will continue to use mephedrone. They like the feeling that the drug provides, and will continue to seek (and may be addicted) to the high it provides. Instead of suppliers who were complying with the law, mephedrone will now be provided to them by criminal gangs, who will command an inflated, untaxed premium for the drug. Some addicts will turn to crime to fund their habit. The strength and purity of mephedrone will greatly vary, to the detriment of the health of users. Rivalry between the drug gangs will bring violence and weapons to inner-city streets.

Duncan is wrong on several counts. Speaking to Fiona Walsh of the Volunteer Centre Angus, I discovered that mephedrone is cheaper than booze. If mephedrone develops quality issues and becomes more expensive, kids will switch back to drinking alcohol. Secondly, addicts turn to crime when they cannot afford their drug of choice. Given how cheap mephedrone is, this is unlikely. He is also wrong to assume that the legal suppliers of mephedrone are not just a front for the criminal gangs supplying illegal drugs.

Mephedrone users will switch to more familiar highs, such as cocaine or ecstasy, that mephedrone attempted to emulate. They will be supplied by criminal gangs, with all the above problems.

Again, it is more likely that users will switch to alcohol or other cheap drugs such as cannabis, rather than more expensive, harder to come by drugs. Also, it might surprise Duncan, but being illegal does actually sometimes work as a deterrent for young people, who do not want to fall foul of the law.

Previously legitimate businesses that supplied mephedrone will be forced to close, with subsequent job losses. This is at odds with Gordon Brown’s statement that “every redundancy is a personal tragedy. Every lost job is an aspiration destroyed. Every business closure is someone’s dream in ruins.”

I do not count companies selling mephedrone, that has been specifically developed as a legal high as “legitimate businesses”. Duncan is being extremely naive if he thinks that the same criminal gangs that sell illegal drugs are not behind the legal ones that sell mephedrone. I doubt that you will find mephedrone on sale at your local garden centre.

Mephedrone users will switch to some of the many other legal highs on the market. Like mephedrone, the effects of these new drugs will not be known by science, and may be more dangerous than mephedrone, causing a new wave of deaths, and a new wave of calls for government action.

Here Duncan may be right. However leaving mephedrone legal will not stop new, more dangerous drugs being developed.

If we were to follow Duncan’s logic through for other narcotics and legalise them, we can look to our two legal drugs, alcohol and nicotine to see what the impacts on our society would be:

• Charity Turning Point claims that there are 1m children living with alcoholic parents. We would condemn how many more kids to a such an upbringing?
• Driving under the influence is a major issue across the country. There is no equivalent to a breathalyser for most drugs. How much would it cost to police Drug Driving? How many more police would be needed? More importantly how many innocent people would be killed on our roads?
• My father died of lung cancer. Seeing the other lung cancer patients on the hospital wards really brought home to me the impact of smoking on families, children and the NHS. Cannabis is primarily smoked, often mixed in with nicotine, in unfiltered joints. Legalising it will only increase the cost of treating lung cancer in this country
• Lost business hours. Already businesses lose time to workers who are addicted to alcohol or have smoking related illnesses. How much of an impact will legalising drugs have on our businesses and our economy?

Neither banning drugs, nor legalising them answers the fundamental question: why do people turn to drugs? The answers are complicated and the solutions even more so. I discussed this in more detail in my previous blog which you can read by clicking here.

What then is the solution? Well as I wrote in the blog post above:

Instead we must break the cycle of alcohol abuse and demonstrate to these children that there is a positive alternative.

We have to be serious about helping parents overcome their alcohol addiction, provide separate support for the children and then help to rebuild these families.

We need to get young people who have been drug and alcohol abusers themselves, to go and talk to children about their experiences. Just like the excellent Fiona Walsh is doing for the Volunteer Centre Angus, based in Arbroath.

And we must also ensure that children have places to go and things to do, that do not involve alcohol, like the Attic Project in Brechin or the CAFE project in Arbroath.

The problems we need to solve are “social exclusion”, for lack of an equally succinct phrase, a cycle of abuse in families and a lack of positive alternatives and awareness of a different way of living for young people. Criminalising drugs does not solve any of these problems. But nor does legalising drugs, or leaving news one legal and instead will have a massive negative effect on our society. The solutions to these problems are complex, difficult and will take a long time, perhaps generations. There is, unfortunately, no easy, quick fix.

Alcohol, Community, Crime, Drugs, Law & Order, Society, Young People

I accompanied by Regional Lib Dem MSP Alison McInnes and Montrose councillor David May visited the YM and had lunch at the community cafe. They heard from Val Cooper of the YM and committee member Anna Roberston, of the funding issues faced by the YM and the actions they have taken to resolve them.

Val and the YM supporters are doing a superb job in meeting the needs of the people in Montrose. The cafe was completely full when we visited, which just goes to show how successful it is. The customers that I spoke to were all really enthusiastic about the YM and the cafe’s role as a community meeting place.

I was also met members of the over 50’s club, and listen to their local concerns. With activities for all ages, the YM is one of those rare services that allows the whole community to come together. It is always a pleasure to see local people coming together to support each other.

David and Alison commented that the lunch was not only excellent value and of high quality, but quite obviously serves the needs of the community, given how well the community cafe is supported.

Community, Elderly, Montrose, Young People

Alberto Costa, the Tory candidate for Angus, recently wrote to the Brechin Advertiser to set out his views on tackling alcohol abuse in Scotland, particularly amongst younger people.

In his letter, he talked at length about how in mainland Europe, “children are exposed to alcoholic drinks, such as a glass of wine over a normal family dinner… removing any of the mystiques that so many of our youngsters attach to alcohol.”

Mr Costa is clearly completely out of touch with the real causes of under age drinking in Scotland. Fellow Angus Lib Dems and I have discussed precisely this issue with social workers, teachers and community workers. We recently met organisers of The Attic Project in Brechin when, amongst other issues, we discussed under age drinking. In a study amongst their youngsters, by far the most common factor for drinking was being surrounded at home by heavy drinkers, in many cases to the point where the children are neglected.

In fact, charity Turning Point, claimed last year that 1.3 million children across the UK are living with parents who misuse alcohol. Far from being a “mystique”, alcohol is a regular part of these children’s lives, disrupting their families, and leaving them exposed to rage, violence and neglect. This has been shown to create a negative self image amongst children, increase levels of depression and truancy, and affect their attainment at school and later in life. These children are growing up thinking that heavy drinking is normal behaviour.

No fewer than 40,000 children have been fined, cautioned or taken to court for alcohol related offences across the UK in the last five years. Criminalising these children will just expose them to an even harsher existence, and may well condemn them to long term drug and alcohol abuse and a life of crime. Instead we must break the cycle of alcohol abuse and demonstrate to these children that there is a positive alternative.

We have to be serious about helping parents overcome their alcohol addiction, provide separate support for the children and then help to rebuild these families.

We need to get young people who have been drug and alcohol abusers themselves, to go and talk to children about their experiences. Just like the excellent Fiona Walsh is doing for the Volunteer Centre Angus, based in Arbroath.

And we must also ensure that children have places to go and things to do, that do not involve alcohol, like the Attic Project in Brechin or the CAFE project in Arbroath.

By coincidence, this week, 14-20 February is the Children of Alcoholics Week, and I would encourage everyone to learn more about the issues facing the most vulnerable members of our community by clicking here to get tot he Children of Alcoholics Week website.

If Mr Costa and the Tories want to solve such a crucial issue for Scotland, they first need to properly understand the causes.

Addiction, Alberto Costa, Alcohol, Drugs, Tory, Young People

Brechin recently secured Town Centre Regeneration funding (TCRF) from the Scottish Government. As widely reported, Brechin has secured £1.8m for plans to improve the High Street.

Brechin’s success is great news for the town and could not come at a more crucial time for Brechin. Visiting the High Street, and seeing how many shops have closed in recent years, it is a worry that Brechin could lose its heart. Thankfully, these funds can help Brechin secure its own future.

The loss of Woolworths was a big blow for Brechin. Winning this funding will help Brechin attract businesses back to the High Street. In particular it is an opportunity for the Council to make the most of its Buy Local campaign, keeping the High Street’s individual character and supporting local suppliers.

Loss of High Street services hits young people particularly hard as they do not have access to transport to take them to out-of-town shops and amenities. I would support calls by local young people to take the opportunity to provide them with activities in the town centre. It is crucial that towns ensure there is plenty for young people to do, and places for them to go.

There is concern that the requirement that all TCRF money needs to be spent by March 2010 is too strict. I sincerely hope that the Scottish Government will be flexible about time scales for spending these grants.

Hopefully the SNP will not politicise this unique opportunity to halt the decline of our High Streets. And, in particular, that should let Brechin complete its redevelopment in the most sustainable, long term way.

Brechin, Buy Local, High Street, Regeneration, Shopping, Young People