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          The Ethiopia Medical Project (EMP)

          A thistle flowerr

          Is it time tae think again about Flower of Scotland?

          Eu flag on the left, UK flag on the right. Both are windblown. A large lightening bolt inbetween them.

          Glasgow Loves EU campaigners brave wind and rain to keep a light on for Scotland

          blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

          Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

          Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

          “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

          Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

          Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

          A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

          Saving Scotland’s tenements

          Ben Nevis. Forground has green shrubbery, then background a mountain with two tops. Blue sky with a few streaky clouds

          Exploring the Highest Mountain in the British Isles: A Guide to Ben Nevis

          Image via Steller Systems, a potential candidate.

          Cancelling future frigates could be final nail in the coffin for the UK

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          blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

          Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

          A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

          Is Alister Jack sane?

          Image Malcom Laverty

          The Brown plan

          The climate change impacts of Russia’s war with Ukraine

          Britain wastes £1bn on drones to monitor English Channel

          The Autumn Statement – time to take a closer look

          Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

          Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

          Scottish independence isn’t going away

          Russia as a low-tech nation

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          A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

          Saving Scotland’s tenements

          A large red researcgh vessel in the sea with ice sheets all around it on the water.

          Rosyth shipyard attracts UK Government contract to maintain fleet of scientific research vessels

          large posts saying 'Glasgow Airport Business Park' on the left and right of a road leading away from the main road in the front. . On that road leading away building with walls almost entirely existing of windows.

          Why doing business in Scotland may be better for your corporate wellbeing

          A mountain of spools forming a tree on the left, a sandy area to the right and a row of houses at the back. mountains in the distance on the right

          The Ullapool Giving Tree

          Electric off-roader heralds return of vehicle mass-production in Scotland after 40 years

          Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

          Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

          Ferguson Marine will weather the storm

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            Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

            Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

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            Glasgow hospitals halt non-urgent operations due to pressure

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              Wood stove at the foot of the bed in the Danish Blue room at Pig Hill Inn, Cold Spring, New York. Printed with permission and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

              When smoke gets in your eyes

              Opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt. Photo courtesy of the UNFCCC

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              Daughter of a drug user

              Abbey Sultan explains how her father’s drug addiction inspired her to help drug users and reframe the conversation around addiction support.

              Abbey SultanbyAbbey Sultan
              24-08-2022 16:00
              in Health
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              Scotland currently has the worst drug related deaths in the UK. This statistic is constantly used by the UK government. Nevertheless, the issue of drugs and drug related deaths in Scotland is a real one. I was born and bred in Glasgow and I was raised in a high flat in Maryhill. My exposure to drugs was one of my earliest memories. My father was one of the many people addicted to heroin in the 90s in Glasgow.

              At the age of four, I was tasked to watch my little sister when she crawled on the floor to ensure she didn’t ingest any of my father’s drugs. I was exposed to the world of drugs during my formative years. I remember my dad stealing from us and strangers to feed his habit. I remember visiting him in the hospital after an overdose.

              Education is key

              Drugs can have a lasting impact on both the individual and their support system. However, there is vital information missing from the discussion of drugs. Not all drugs are the same. Having grown up around drugs, I know that alcohol and heroin are very different to coffee and marijuana. There has to be an honest and transparent conversation with our youth about drugs. If we don’t, children will enter adolescence without the right tools to identify and assess different drugs.

              I advocate for better education on drugs. It needs to be more than ‘don’t touch drugs’, because that doesn’t hold up in adulthood when you’re offered legal substances that are just as addictive. Therefore, we need to have a different conversation on the types of drugs, the effects the drugs have on yourself and others, and the lasting impacts of drugs. This key to preventing future drug related deaths.

              Trying to make a difference

              Interestingly, my exposure to drugs sparked an interest in pharmaceuticals. I had observed that legal drugs had the same devastating effects as illegal drugs. I decided to train and become a pharmacy dispenser. It was there I saw how members of the community were suffering. Specifically the methadone patients. Some of the stories I was told were absolutely harrowing. I asked a methadone patient, ‘how did it start?’ The woman was very forthcoming and told me she was raped as a child and she was on drugs before she was a teen.

              This tragic upbringing helped me understand, she needs something to numb the pain. Many methadone patients said they felt judged when they came into the pharmacy. With that knowledge I made it my objective to be the friendly happy face. I also worked the needle exchange in the pharmacy, which I was drawn to. My other colleagues didn’t like engaging with users. This was made obvious as they would spray air fresher, refuse them the minor ailment service and talk about methadone patients when they left. This judgement was felt by the patients.

              Man sat with head in hands
              Health

              Living with long Covid: the second pandemic

              byLesley Macniven
              1 August 2022

              Legal doesn’t equal safe

              As briefly mentioned above, legal substances can have devastating effects. I lost three patients to street Valium and this drug is the reason Scotland drugs deaths are increasing. Propranolol, gabapentin, diazepam, zopiclone, codeine, oramorph (fast acting liquid form of morphine). These are only some of the addictive legal drugs given out by GPs.

              The deaths related to street Valium were devastating for the community. Diazepam is a legal drug that doctors are now less keen to prescribe. So people have found alternative ways to get diazepam. This where the NHS and our healthcare system must take some responsibility.

              Addiction services as it stands just write the prescription for methadone. There is no therapy and no effort to create a support system for the user. This has led to an addiction service that only gives out more drugs. Scotland has advocated for safe spaces for drug users not only to keep people safe but to offer support.

              Breaking the stigma

              Lastly, the judgement users face by the public is critical to analysis if we are to make any progress in reducing drug related deaths. Judgement prevents people seeking help and it can prevent users truly engaging with the addiction services. I would promote a non-judgemental approach based on an understanding that a user is not born. Rather there is a lifetime of trauma and pain that has led people to substances.

              Drugs have played a vital role in my life. I have seen the way they can split up families and I have seen how using drugs makes people forget everything, including their own children. My father claims he is clean now but I do not have a relationship with him. As much as I understand why he used and I want to help other users, I haven’t had the strength to forgive.

              I was harmed and put in dangerous situations as a child. The impacts are so profound that I am still processing it all in my 30s. Nevertheless, my father’s addiction is the reason I am so keen to see a more effective approach to drugs in Scotland.

              If you or anyone you know has been affected by drug addiction, there are many places able to help, including:

              • The NHS website
              • The Scottish Drugs Forum
              • Scottish Families Affected by Drugs & Alcohol
              • Scottish Drug Services Directory
              • Mind
              • Action on Addiction
              • Turning Point

              We need your help! The press in our country is dominated by billionaire-owned media, many offshore and avoiding paying tax. We are a citizen journalism publication but still have significant costs. If you believe in what we do, please consider subscribing to the Bylines Gazette 🙏

              Tags: addictionhealth
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              Abbey Sultan

              Abbey Sultan

              Abbey left Glasgow in 2018 and is currently residing in Falkirk to pursue a degree in Religious Studies and Sociology at Stirling University.

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