Addicts aren’t born, but made. The precursor to addiction is dislocation – a loss of psychological, social and economic integration into community and culture that engenders a sense of exclusion, isolation and powerlessness.

Scotland is riddled with examples. The Highland Clearances destroyed traditional clan structures, culture and language. Hundreds of thousands of Scots were evicted from their land and forced to emigrate. A Highlands administrator at the time wrote: “The children of those who are removed from the hills will lose all recollection of the habits and customs of their fathers.”

Then there was the 1980s deindustrialisation of Scotland that caused massive economic and social dislocation. Whole communities were hollowed out, unemployment soared and with it, hopelessness and despair. The UK failed to create alternatives for these communities, so poverty and its associated problems – trauma, mental illness and drug addiction – became entrenched across generations.

There were just under 1,200 suspected drug deaths in Scotland between January and December last year (Picture: Toby Williams)

It doesn’t need to be this way. Slovakia, Sweden and The Netherlands don’t have high drug death rates. They prioritise social spending so that poverty and inequality are far lower than in the UK. If Scotland is to address its social problems, it, not London, needs to control its economy so it works for the Scottish people. Another welcome benefit of restoring Scotland’s sovereignty would ending England’s addiction to our resources, helping it, for once, to stand on its own two feet.

Leah Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh

Hate speech

It is more than “disturbing” that Alexander McKay (Letters, 18 March) would stoop to inferring deplorable comparisons with the Nazis and Hamas in a grossly misguided attempt to slur the SNP.

While castigating that party for language used in wishing Scotland to be rid of all Tory MPs, who through more than a decade of imposed austerity and a hard Brexit have condemned many people to unnecessary suffering and destitution, Mr McKay casually and repeatedly employed the language of “hate”.

Perhaps with the reluctance of the Labour Party to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza it has finally dawned on Mr McKay that “his party” under Keir Starmer has abandoned its remaining socialist principles, which in turn has provoked such a desperate and scurrilous tirade, but surely “the decent people of Scotland” deserve better.

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian

Full of foreboding

Your correspondents Messrs Edwards, McKay and Scott are to be commended for their hat-trick of ominous and foreboding letters (18 March).

Whilst I share some of Mr Edwards’ concerns about the Hate Crime legislation, Mr McKay really is stretching it trying to draw an analogy between peaceful civic and cultural nationalism with the Third Reich! Even his attempt to bring in the much misinterpreted “river to the sea” phrase in service to his somewhat desperate comparison is just a bit silly. And it's nice of him to let us know that he intends to vote Labour, the party formerly known as the People's Party which offers no new ideas or solutions to the problems of our fading and glorious imperial decline.

But it’s Mr Scott’s letter that I find most entertaining; at the start we are a “northerly region of the UK” but at the end he acknowledges “Scotland and its people”. Do I detect a stirring patriotism?

Perhaps he will join me at Grangemouth some Saturday to draw attention to the fact that we will shortly be one of the few oil producing nations in the world without a refinery if it closes.

Marjorie Ellis Thompson, Edinburgh

SNP tactics

There have several letters on SNP tactics lately, for example from Gerald Edwards and Alexander McKay, commenting on Humza Yousaf’s “Tory-free zone” remarks, and disparaging anti-Conservative remarks in general.

Sadly, this is not new – demonisation has long been an SNP tactic (for Tory, read English), along with half-truths spun out of recognition and the stoking of grievance.

William Ballantine, Bo’ness, West Lothian

What a joke

Consider the potential impact of the Continuity SNP/Green Hate Crimes Bill on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The cancellation of entertainer Jerry Sadowitz in 2022 could be just a foretaste of things to come, as complaints about being offended may now have to be investigated by Police Scotland.

It would be understandable if comedians stayed away in future for fear of actually being arrested because their act might annoy some group or other. Could this even be the end of comedy as we know it north of the border? However, it might be some consolation if certain individuals were hoisted by their own petard when they expressed (for example) a detestation of “Toaries” and everything they stand for.Then again, maybe the Scottish Government will legislate for special exemptions in such cases.

Martin O’Gorman, Edinburgh

Nothing new

With the increasing use of drones in conflicts around the world I am reminded of the use of fireships in the days of sail. Hugely effective, it would seem, and just as scary as drones are now, the only difference being that fireships did not target civilians.

David Gerrard, Edinburgh

Ferry farce

I was delighted to see the launch on Saturday of the MV Isle of Islay built by Cemre of Turkey, where the first steel was cut in Cctober 2022. The vessel is expected to come into service in October 2024. I am sure it will come as a relief to Scottish Island taxpayers. It is first of two ferries being built by Cemre on time and on budget for a combined budget of £91 million.

Compare this with the lamentable performance of the SNP-controlled Ferguson yard, whichalso had an order for two ferries with the first steel cut April 2016 and the Glen Sannox “launched” in a farcical ceremony by Nicola Sturgeon with windows painted in. Fast forward to March 2024 and eight years and £360m later we have the Glen Sannox in sea trials. It might not even beat the Turkish-built ferry into service this year.

What an embarrassment for Scotland’s shipbuilding heritage. We have yet to see if the vessel is, in fact, fit for purpose with even the mainland port having to be changed because even after eight years the terminal at Ardrossan has not been modified and cannot accommodate the ferry .

In a previous letter to the Scotsman some four years ago I suggested towing the Glen Sannox to the Mull of Galloway, sinking it and promoting it a as tourist dive site called “Nicola’s Folly”. We might even had at least two more Turkish ferries serving the Isles at no additional cost by now .

The Ferguson yard should be disposed of and certainly no Scottish Government ferry should ever be ordered from it ever again.

Robin Jack, Edinburgh

Bias tackled?

I have watched Scottish football on and off for 60 years. There is no doubt that the big Glasgow teams are the best teams in the SPL. They have the advantage of massively superior finances and are able to employ high quality players. However, they also have the advantage , in my opinion, of refereeing decisions generally in their favour.

I watched Rangers playing against Benfi ca last week on TV, and observed what seemed to me to be almost disbelief on some of the Rangers’ players faces when 50/50 decisions were not given in their favour by a non-Scottish referee. That does not happen often in Scottish football with Scottish referees. May I suggest that it is time that independent referees were employed in the SPL.

George M More, Edinburgh

Child poverty

Speaking on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show Humza Yousaf claimed he wakes up every morning proud to be Scotland’s First Minister, a role he has asserted is the top job in Scotland. This is true of a man who sleepwalks through life wearing rose-tinted spectacles as the country falls apart around him. Again his main claim to success is independent modelling showing the number of Scottish children taken out of poverty is up from 90,000 to 100,000, yet the charity Children First asserts that progress has been halted and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation cites continued missed child poverty targets by the SNP government.

The Foundation is working with Save the Children to look at new insights into the causes of child poverty, as reported by The Scotsman. Liz Lloyd, Nicola Sturgeon’s former chief advisor, has been appointed as an expert advisor. Hopefully she will collaborate better than during the pandemic when, by her own admission, she sought to create an “old fashioned rammy” with the UK Government. The best qualified advisors would surely be those who have experienced child poverty with a proven track record in this field.

As addressing child poverty appears to be the only policy the First Minister can point to as an SNP success, the next time we hear that he is “confident” about the party’s election chances, perhaps we can conclude he is just being cocky about having the top job in Scotland.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

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Readers' letters: Tackle drug deaths by focusing on the root causes of addiction

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