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As Scotland's 'Trainspotting' Generation Ages, the Dead Pile Up

nytimes.com

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Re: As Scotland's 'Trainspotting' Generation Ages, the Dead Pile Up

#91

Post by strainer »

jamienicol wrote: post #84
GordonS wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never realised it was anything other than alcohol. I had a quick look, but didn't see anything about "herbal stimulants"?

Never heard of any herbal stimulants myself, and I drank a few bottles in my youth. It does have a disclaimer on in saying "the name tonic wine does not imply any medicinal properties". I think it's just the combination of alcohol and lots of caffeine which gives the desired effect

Admittedly I was thinking along the lines of gin and other drinks herbal contents. But while Buckfast Abbey is guarded about "the recipe" they say it is essentially the same as it was 120 years ago. It is said to be made from "fortified wine" (which besides alcohol and sugar, is loaded with plant based tannins, some reservatrol, and any number of extra ingredients), a couple of preservatives, vanilla extract... and it has caffeine in it.

It seems like a liability for the traditional branding if they do not make it as they claim "along the same lines and according to the same basic recipe as used in the very early days" They could be just mixing in highly refined caffeine like an "alcho-pop" manufacturer but I'm not so cynical to expect that.

Re: As Scotland's 'Trainspotting' Generation Ages, the Dead Pile Up

#92

Post by GavriloPrincep »

giobox wrote: post #49
jdietrich wrote: post #3

Not mentioned in the article: The Scottish heroin epidemic started in Edinburgh, the more prosperous of Scotland's two largest cities. This was largely due to the presence of MacFarlan Smith, which was at one point the world's largest producer of pharmaceutical opiates. That initial cohort of heroin users in the 1980s predominantly used drugs that were diverted from the legitimate pharmaceutical supply rather than sm…

The Macfarlan Smith link is interesting and not something I’ve ever heard before. Is there any other information on this on the web or elsewhere? A google for “Macfarlan Smith” and “Heroin” only returns your comment here as best I could find in a few minutes of searching.

The first of Irvine Welsh's "Trainspotting" books, the prequel "Skagboys", has that factory as a core component of a few of its story lines. I though Skagboys was at least as good as Trainspotting, and I'm glad I read it first.

Re: As Scotland's 'Trainspotting' Generation Ages, the Dead Pile Up

#93

Post by DonaldFisk »

laurencerowe wrote: post #88
lucideer wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. It brings them up as similar, but less severe comparisons. I commented because I thought the implication that Glasgow/Scotland is anomalous seemed odd, rather than simply being the extreme low-point in a general regional trend.

The Glasgow effect is notable because it’s not explained by the usual factors of poverty. If you graph life expectancy vs poverty, Glasgow is an outlier, an anomaly from the trend line.

There was a recent study which suggested that Glaswegians’ higher risk of premature death was caused by rehousing skilled workers in new towns, and leaving the poorest behind: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jun/10/glasgow-effec...

Re: As Scotland's 'Trainspotting' Generation Ages, the Dead Pile Up

#94

Post by UglyToad »

ensmartha wrote: post #54

Maybe there’s just no solution to the drug problem. We’ve tried everything already at great cost. Sometimes it’s better to admit a war is not winnable and to pull out before wasting more resources.

"We've" tried everything only in the sense we've consistently pandered to the regressive, dogmatic and poorly informed war-on-drugs brigade.

Heroin is less dangerous than paracetamol (though much more highly addictive) and almost all the harms arise from reusing injection equipment, poly drug use, unknown strength or the drug being cut with crap: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/20...

So yes we should admit that the war is unwinnable but not as an admission of defeat but rather that we are finally doing the obvious thing and that regressive politicians and voters who have prolonged the phony war on drugs are never let near public health or criminal policy again.

Re: As Scotland's 'Trainspotting' Generation Ages, the Dead Pile Up

#95

Post by kenneth »

kgwgk wrote: post #62
kenneth wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Swiss experiment was a massive disaster. Wish we had never done it, and it certainly took a few decades to clean up its effect on parts of Zürich. It attracted junkies from all over Europe and with it brought crime and violence. I spent a few years going to primary school near the epicenter of it in the late 90s. The number of times I saw people shooting up in broad daylight right in front of my school… is shocki…

https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/extern/storytelling/needletraum...

Great story, thanks for sharing.

Re: As Scotland's 'Trainspotting' Generation Ages, the Dead Pile Up

#96

Post by chrisfinne »

ralfd wrote: post #87
chrisfinne wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thomas Sowell digs into this in his book "Black Rednecks and White Liberals" quote from the book's Wikipedia page: Sowell argues that the black ghetto culture, which is claimed to be "authentic black culture", is actually a highly dysfunctional white southern redneck culture which existed during the antebellum South. This culture came, in turn, from the "Cracker culture" of the North Britons and Scots-Irish who migra…

That reminded me of Slatestarcodex excellent review of „Albion’s Seeds“: https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/04/27/book-review-albions-se...

That is a great book review.

Re: As Scotland's 'Trainspotting' Generation Ages, the Dead Pile Up

#97

Post by kuniva »

_Understated_ wrote: post #15
matthewmacleod wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it's more complex than that. In a country that has for many years only had a broadly two-party system, there was little effect to be had by voting for someone else. And given Glasgow's historical politics, that was always going to be the lefty party. Things have changed, though. The devolved Scottish Parliament has now been in operation for 20 years; in Westminster, Glasgow North-East (which is the parliamentar…

My issue with drug policy revolves around two key points: 1. The war on drugs is an utter failure (by that I mean, it hasn't halted drug use but there are likely those in power who benefit from this) 2. None of their policies tackles root causes, e.g. putting ex-drug users back into their old habitats will likely guarantee they'll just do it again. I'm from Glasgow (Kirkintilloch), live in Ayrshire now, and I saw it…

I always find that weird, people from places way far out claiming Glasgow. We never did that in Paisley, we always said Paisley. I'm almost sure I've heard people from Wishaw, and even Shotts claiming they're from Glasgow. Overspill identity crisis or what.
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