Edinburgh - Drug Capital Of Scotland!!!

[Rawrrrrrrr]

This has been all over the media yesterday and today

 

Does anyone actually believe it?

 

I can't help but think its due to the policing of drugs in edinburgh being far less tolerant

 

I cant actually believe that edinburgh has a worse drug problem than the likes of aberdeen, glasgow, dundee or fife

[Makween]

Is it not actually just that more drug related arrests have been made in Edinburgh than anywhere else in Scotland?

 

Could just be that our police force aren't as corrupt as, for example, just plucking an example from thin air here, certainly not accusing anyone of being corrupt Weegie *****, Strathclyde.

[Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC]

Depends what kind of drugs you are on about.

 

Do you mean the bigs ones like Heroin?

 

Go into any pub/club on a Friday and Saturday night and at least 10% of the place will be on some sort of chemicals!

[Rawrrrrrrr]

Depends what kind of drugs you are on about.

 

Do you mean the bigs ones like Heroin?

 

Go into any pub/club on a Friday and Saturday night and at least 10% of the place will be on some sort of chemicals!

 

 

It just says drugs

 

And whilst I dont think we are drug free, I very much doubt the problem is as bad as glasgow or dundee, especially when it comes to the hard ones such as heroin

 

As Makween says I put it down to the policing in the 2 cities being completely different when it comes to tolerance

[Makween]

Depends what kind of drugs you are on about.

 

Do you mean the bigs ones like Heroin?

 

Go into any pub/club on a Friday and Saturday night and at least 10% of the place will be on some sort of chemicals!

 

Pretty much the same in any city in Scotland / Britain.

[vegas-voss]

It just says drugs

 

And whilst I dont think we are drug free, I very much doubt the problem is as bad as glasgow or dundee, especially when it comes to the hard ones such as heroin

 

As Makween says I put it down to the policing in the 2 cities being completely different when it comes to tolerance

 

I don't know does edinburgh mean it's surrounding suburbs aswell.

 

I live in East Lothian and although not part of Edinburgh pretty much every town and village in it has a smack problem and then you have the coke heads that don't think they have a problem even though they do as much coke through the week as they do at weekends.

[Craig_]

Depends what kind of drugs you are on about.

 

Do you mean the bigs ones like Heroin?

 

Go into any pub/club on a Friday and Saturday night and at least 10% of the place will be on some sort of chemicals!

 

Come onto Kickback on a Friday night and about 10% of the people will be on some sort of chemical!

[billyboy38]

Absalute ****e

 

Worked in the front line WITH DRUGGIES AND SHOPLIFTERS for over 20 years

 

This town/Capital is the very best place to visit/live you will ever come across

unless you can get tempratures of over 25 OC

 

EDINBURGH IS WONDERFULL!!!

[North Berwick Jambo]

Sweet, we are finally number one at something! GIRFUY weegies!

[Domokun]

I don't know what everyone's getting their knickers in a twist about. It's been common knowledge for years.

 

Prancer, where do you live? Morningside?

 

Edit: It also amuses me when people say "Aberdeen, Dundee, Fife are much worse" when they don't have much experience of living anywhere else than, guess where? Edinburgh. For one, Fife's no a city! For two, Aberdeen is the most affluent city in Scotland. Dundee...maybe got a point, but those feckers are so poverty-stricken I doubt they can afford drugs.

[Slick 21]

So it`s no` Leith efter all.

[Domokun]

So it`s no` Leith efter all.

 

Hey, maybe that's it? LEITH is bringing Edinburgh's wonderful name down?

[jamtastic]

Hey, maybe that's it? LEITH is bringing Edinburgh's wonderful name down?

 

Na it's no that ,i live down here,it s an uptown thing,deffo:)

[Slick 21]

"I" before "E" except after...............beer.

[Tazio]

"I" before "E" except

 

your name is Keith and you live in Leith.

[Toggie88]

As Makween and Prancer have said, it'll be mostly down to different stances by the Police forces.

 

It could just be that L&B are better at 'catching' criminals than Strathclyde - it could also be that Strathclyde are more stretched in terms of resources than Edinburgh.

 

I'm always wary of these stats - when they say "Arrests have went up for x amount of years", does it mean i) Crime is increasing? ii) More crimes are being solved? It can be spun anyway.

[Domokun]

As Makween and Prancer have said, it'll be mostly down to different stances by the Police forces.

 

It could just be that L&B are better at 'catching' criminals than Strathclyde - it could also be that Strathclyde are more stretched in terms of resources than Edinburgh.

 

I'm always wary of these stats - when they say "Arrests have went up for x amount of years", does it mean i) Crime is increasing? ii) More crimes are being solved? It can be spun anyway.

 

So it couldn't actually be that there is a bigger smack problem in Edinburgh than other places?

 

Nah, didn't think so. It's the police's fault. Nasty men.

[Toggie88]

So it couldn't actually be that there is a bigger smack problem in Edinburgh than other places?

 

Nah, didn't think so. It's the police's fault. Nasty men.

 

It could be - was just pointing out that these studies don't show the reasons behind the results.

 

I didn't blame the Police. Try reading my post again.

 

What's this anti-Edinburgh crusade you appear on?

[Domokun]

It could be - was just pointing out that these studies don't show the reasons behind the results.

 

I didn't blame the Police. Try reading my post again.

 

What's this anti-Edinburgh crusade you appear on?

 

It's not, it's called a balanced opinion of the city's merits and bad points from the view of someone who has lived there but who now doesn't. I love Edinburgh for many things, not least HMFC, but I'm not blinded from its downsides either. I'm not saying you are and maybe I was not succinct enough in my previous reply to your good self to make this clear but what I meant was that it's a typical "civic pride thing" for someone to suggest that drug policing in Embra is tighter than anywhere else. It's just that I have no civic pride for anywhere as, IMO, the whole of Scotland is a social backwater of Europe. Hmm, I don't have any real national pride anymore either.

 

Sorry Toggie, I didn't mean to offend but certain posters on here (not necessarily yourself) can often be blinkered about Embra in the exact same way they are about HMFC.

[UnworthyPapaLazaru]

Its not true. Ive been trying to score some weed for months with no sucsess. I remember the Daily Record was saying that Scotland was the weed growing capital of europe. WHERE ABOOTS I CANNAE GET NOWT.

[Domokun]

Its not true. Ive been trying to score some weed for months with no sucsess. I remember the Daily Record was saying that Scotland was the weed growing capital of europe. WHERE ABOOTS I CANNAE GET NOWT.

 

He he. Bit of a drought is there UPL? It seems easier to get class A's now and harder to get puff from what I hear, right enough. Different when I were a lad. Coke used to be for the rich.

[Tazio]

Coke used to be for the rich.

 

Morningside speed we called it.

[Tazio]

Not that I was familiar with such nonsense you understand.

[UnworthyPapaLazaru]

if there was a drought, id be happy that everyone was in the same boat. Turns out Im just out of touch...

[Toggie88]

It's not, it's called a balanced opinion of the city's merits and bad points from the view of someone who has lived there but who now doesn't. I love Edinburgh for many things, not least HMFC, but I'm not blinded from its downsides either. I'm not saying you are and maybe I was not succinct enough in my previous reply to your good self to make this clear but what I meant was that it's a typical "civic pride thing" for someone to suggest that drug policing in Embra is tighter than anywhere else. It's just that I have no civic pride for anywhere as, IMO, the whole of Scotland is a social backwater of Europe. Hmm, I don't have any real national pride anymore either.

 

Sorry Toggie, I didn't mean to offend but certain posters on here (not necessarily yourself) can often be blinkered about Embra in the exact same way they are about HMFC.

 

Not a problem, I wasn't saying that Edinburgh wasn't the drug capital of Scotland - just the stats didn't really prove much. The headline could have just as easily been "Edinburgh - Scotland's best city at tackling drugs". I have no blind allegiance to Edinburgh. I actually quite like Glasgow tbh, and feel it's treated a bit harshly.

 

They are both two different types of Cities imo. Glasgow, traditionally working class - manual jobs, labouring etc. Edinburgh, more of a 'Scholary-ly' place (bad example), you get what I mean though. I've got friends in Glasgow, and many of whom say "Edinburgh's nice. Don't know if I'd want to live here though".

 

Go to any city in the world. I bet they will all have less than desirable areas.

[Domokun]

Not a problem, I wasn't saying that Edinburgh wasn't the drug capital of Scotland - just the stats didn't really prove much. The headline could have just as easily been "Edinburgh - Scotland's best city at tackling drugs". I have no blind allegiance to Edinburgh. I actually quite like Glasgow tbh, and feel it's treated a bit harshly.

 

They are both two different types of Cities imo. Glasgow, traditionally working class - manual jobs, labouring etc. Edinburgh, more of a 'Scholary-ly' place (bad example), you get what I mean though. I've got friends in Glasgow, and many of whom say "Edinburgh's nice. Don't know if I'd want to live here though".

 

Go to any city in the world. I bet they will all have less than desirable areas.

 

Fair point I suppose. I just don't think police, anywhere, are that great at "tackling" anything thesedays, unless it's tackling Hearts fans in Glasgow that is.

 

I just wonder if these people from Glasgow you mention had ever been to Granton, West Pilton, Niddrie, Craigmillar etc. I've lived in the Calders which wasn't that bad to be honest although dunno if that was because I had no real social connection to it. My stair window did get panned in and a lassie was beaten up in the stair quite badly though, in saying that.

[Morry]

Every week one city is the drug capital of Scotland - Must be Edinburgh's turn this week. Its just all media scaremongering. Weegie media at that!

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't L&B do a massive drug raid recently? That would probably bump the citys figures right up?

[DikT.]

Also remember Peterhead being called the drug capital ?????

[Mikey1874]

(Old thread warning)

 

The trial of Sean Orman alleged to have shot and killed prominent Hibs fan and alleged drug dealer Bradley Welsh has started.

 

Evidence already brings in George Baigrie possible alleged funder of the killing. 

 

See what else the evidence brings up. 

[Jeffros Furios]

26 minutes ago, Mikey1874 said:

(Old thread warning)

 

The trial of Sean Orman alleged to have shot and killed prominent Hibs fan and alleged drug dealer Bradley Welsh has started.

 

Evidence already brings in George Baigrie possible alleged funder of the killing. 

 

See what else the evidence brings up. 

I read earlier that someone injured by the wee radge had recently visited a well known character in jail .

I've deliberately left out the names to keep the mods happy .

[Mikey1874]

5 minutes ago, Jeffros Furios said:

I read earlier that someone injured by the wee radge had recently visited a well known character in jail .

I've deliberately left out the names to keep the mods happy .

 

Yes, good point.

 

I have only named those reported from court. But some interesting stories when you do basic research. Nothing that new.

 

But I was surprised to see Baigrie mentioned. Suggests there will be more to come. 

[Howdy Doody Jambo]

Edinburgh definitely does have a massive problem 

[mutley]

7 minutes ago, The Maroon Pound said:

Edinburgh definitely does have a massive problem 

Drugs deaths below the Scottish national average. Less than half of Glasgow and Dundee 

[manaliveits105]

Of course there is a drug problem but not buying that its worse than the weeg and surrounds - absolute weegia tripe - no doubt aided by the plastic weegie in charge of us whose actual constituency has a huge problem . We really need our politicians to start challenging the weegie bias in the media and campaign to get one of the tv stations moved to the Capital . 

[Sharpie]

These problems are international. Here in the Okanagan a centre for fairly mild winter weather we are inundated with homeless camps. These unfortunately create havens for heavy drug users. There are so many deaths from overdoses that the Province is considering simple possession of illegal drugs to no longer be a crime. The expense of prosecutions they feel is using money that could b used for adult drug user recovery centres. So the sight of bedraggled generally toothless individuals with at least a sleeve rolled injecting an illegal matter into their arms will no longer be criminal. These addicts will utilise ambulances free, whereas when my wife was dying I had to pay thirty dollars a trip to get her to the hospital. Am I bitter you can bet your sweet ass I am, garbage of society and we are talking about encouraging them here, whats the saying from the Revolution. Power to the People.

[Tommy Brown]

Hate these bumped threads, never noticed it was from 2008 until a poster mentioned Prancer.

[Gards]

Quite a few BANNED users on this thread 🙂

[graygo]

3 hours ago, Sharpie said:

These problems are international. Here in the Okanagan a centre for fairly mild winter weather we are inundated with homeless camps. These unfortunately create havens for heavy drug users. There are so many deaths from overdoses that the Province is considering simple possession of illegal drugs to no longer be a crime. The expense of prosecutions they feel is using money that could b used for adult drug user recovery centres. So the sight of bedraggled generally toothless individuals with at least a sleeve rolled injecting an illegal matter into their arms will no longer be criminal. These addicts will utilise ambulances free, whereas when my wife was dying I had to pay thirty dollars a trip to get her to the hospital. Am I bitter you can bet your sweet ass I am, garbage of society and we are talking about encouraging them here, whats the saying from the Revolution. Power to the People.

 

It's the "war on drugs" that has driven drug use into criminal hands, non controlled manufacture which accounts for many of the deaths.

There's a hell of a lot of other, I want to say ignorant but I'll call it old fashioned views in your post.

Portugal turned things around in their country by focusing on treatments rather than punishments, it's a pity the rest of the world won't do the same.

[theshed]

5 hours ago, Mikey1874 said:

(Old thread warning)

 

The trial of Sean Orman alleged to have shot and killed prominent Hibs fan and alleged drug dealer Bradley Welsh has started.

 

Evidence already brings in George Baigrie possible alleged funder of the killing. 

 

See what else the evidence brings up. 

 

No got a clue who these guys are but I take it Welsh was killed because of drugs and getting involved with people he shouldn’t have 

[Mikey1874]

16 minutes ago, theshed said:

 

No got a clue who these guys are but I take it Welsh was killed because of drugs and getting involved with people he shouldn’t have 

 

 

Although Bradley Welsh isn't on trial there may be some interesting challenges for his supporters who recently marked the anniversary of his death. 

 

 

 

[Sharpie]

3 hours ago, Awbdy Oot said:

 

It's the "war on drugs" that has driven drug use into criminal hands, non controlled manufacture which accounts for many of the deaths.

There's a hell of a lot of other, I want to say ignorant but I'll call it old fashioned views in your post.

Portugal turned things around in their country by focusing on treatments rather than punishments, it's a pity the rest of the world won't do the same.

  Thank you for your insightful view into my post. I dealt for 26 years on a regular basis with drug addicts hiding in corners jabbing their arms with dirty needles. In the last ten years or so  of that twenty six I dealt with the same thing when perfectly available safe sterile  drug using sites were available and not used by many .Some safe drugs were offered but the hypes wanted stronger fixes. the non controlled manufacture you mention is also part of the problem because it does offer the type of effect desired. In my ignorance I always thought it was the introduction of the drugs by criminal entities that caused the war on drugs. 

Please do not deny yourself your right to use what words you wish to demean my views, ignorant and old fashioned are indeed tame to what I have been called because of my views and actions when dealing with addicts. Sadly my dealings were not with nice little rich boys who could buy from respectable and trustworthy dealers. They were skid road bums in the main who used criminal tactics to pay for their habit. They had no desire for work and the same for rehabilitation and live with no ambition or care or concern other than their  next fix.

With that sir, as we say in Canada "have a nice day.

 

[graygo]

8 minutes ago, Sharpie said:

  Thank you for your insightful view into my post. I dealt for 26 years on a regular basis with drug addicts hiding in corners jabbing their arms with dirty needles. In the last ten years or so  of that twenty six I dealt with the same thing when perfectly available safe sterile  drug using sites were available and not used by many .Some safe drugs were offered but the hypes wanted stronger fixes. the non controlled manufacture you mention is also part of the problem because it does offer the type of effect desired. In my ignorance I always thought it was the introduction of the drugs by criminal entities that caused the war on drugs. 

Please do not deny yourself your right to use what words you wish to demean my views, ignorant and old fashioned are indeed tame to what I have been called because of my views and actions when dealing with addicts. Sadly my dealings were not with nice little rich boys who could buy from respectable and trustworthy dealers. They were skid road bums in the main who used criminal tactics to pay for their habit. They had no desire for work and the same for rehabilitation and live with no ambition or care or concern other than their  next fix.

With that sir, as we say in Canada "have a nice day.

 

 

Wow, at least you got the right to reply.

[Sharpie]

29 minutes ago, Awbdy Oot said:

 

Wow, at least you got the right to reply.

 That is so and I appreciate that  every time I do on this fine forum.  I take it you have not posted recently I see you have 28,000 plus posts but and I am a frequent user I am sorry to say I have no recall of seeing your name. I take it a name change as I have had to do frequently is the cause. 

[Doctor FinnBarr]

34 minutes ago, Sharpie said:

 That is so and I appreciate that  every time I do on this fine forum.  I take it you have not posted recently I see you have 28,000 plus posts but and I am a frequent user I am sorry to say I have no recall of seeing your name. I take it a name change as I have had to do frequently is the cause. 

 

Its Graygo Bob

[JFK-1]

I'm for the legalisation of weed. If it had to be one or the other what would you rather see town centres littered with on a Friday night? Stoners or neds out of their faces on perfectly legal alcohol? I think the answer to that is a no brainer.

Harder drugs i'm conflicted on. On the one hand legalising harder drugs would take it out of the hands of the drug gangs which alone would make the streets a safer environment. Allied with the fact it could save a fortune on policing and court costs  it could be taxed and the income derived from it used to help those with a harmful habit.

Downside I don't know if it would significantly increase the number of those using and becoming addicted to harder drugs. Though I have seen studies suggesting that it wouldn't.

[Sharpie]

53 minutes ago, FinnBarr Saunders said:

 

Its Graygo Bob

Thanks very much, it just made me curious especially when I tried to find his profile and it is not available. I have no beef with what he had to say old fashioned I am, actually there is nothing can be in my description quite justifiably that doesn't start with old.  

I am from an Edinburgh generation especially a a policeman where drugs were not a problem, they in fact were an unknown. The problem with the persons who will now be drug addicts was cheap wine, my description of toothless, dirt people was exactly the same with the winos. They dd not have much in the way of treatment to cure their alcoholism he only people who I remember actually caring were the Salvation Army.

 

My first ever arrest in Canada was for something non drug related, but in the custody search I found these packages of to me an unknown commodity one of my young constables described it as weed, the prisoner was then also charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking. My knowledge of drugs and drug users in the next twenty six years increased significantly, but I never really gained any respect for the highly committed drug users. There were numerous agencies, and groups who had great sympathy for addicts, some would be convinced to accept offers of rehab, and they did, they accepted all, the food, the accommodations in some cases the religious teachings, but soon tired and returned to their self induced habit. These individuals were just like the old winos of Edinburgh, dirty, unkempt, dishonest , and would do anything for money but get a job. Sleep anywhere in filth, their own excrement and urine, and all because of a habit they had started having to have known the future ravages of the body and mind.

 

I have no great objection to being referred to as ignorant, and old fashioned, I think the ignorant is a bit strong, I just wonder how many miles the accuser has walked in my shoes, sure I could be more sympathetic towards people who made a very bad decision in life, I could be if they took the opportunities offered to change but if they did not no sympathy from me. Old fashioned, ignorant if that make me so, then so let it be.

[Sharpie]

2 minutes ago, JFK-1 said:

I'm for the legalisation of weed. If it had to be one or the other what would you rather see town centres littered with on a Friday night? Stoners or neds out of their faces on perfectly legal alcohol? I think the answer to that is a no brainer.

Harder drugs i'm conflicted on. On the one hand legalising harder drugs would take it out of the hands of the drug gangs which alone would make the streets a safer environment. Allied with the fact it could save a fortune on policing and court costs  it could be taxed and the income derived from it used to help those with a harmful habit.

Downside I don't know if it would significantly increase the number of those using and becoming addicted to harder drugs. Though I have seen studies suggesting that it wouldn't.

 Marijuana sales are legal in B.C. it has actually had no serious if any impact on everyday environment. Strangely enough some people still it seem to prefer to buy from an unlicensed street dealer. Even when it was illegal smokes were not in any manner similar to hard drug us, legalisation is just another source of government tax which is a good thing in a way.

 I have arrested people for possession, even after working for six months in 1967 in a Provincial where many of the prisoners were young persons ruined for life for possession of marijuana.I remember three young career soldiers in a civil prison having been dishonorably discharged after a Marijuana charge, but that was the sixties, and use was rampant an illegal. The presence of a criminal record especially with jail time was a  non erasable record that a I suspect must have ruined many career ambitions, sad, and although my actions were perfectly correct I often wonder just how bad it affected some lives, and do feel some responsibility for it.

[JFK-1]

1 minute ago, Sharpie said:

 Marijuana sales are legal in B.C. it has actually had no serious if any impact on everyday environment. Strangely enough some people still it seem to prefer to buy from an unlicensed street dealer. Even when it was illegal smokes were not in any manner similar to hard drug us, legalisation is just another source of government tax which is a good thing in a way.

 I have arrested people for possession, even after working for six months in 1967 in a Provincial where many of the prisoners were young persons ruined for life for possession of marijuana.I remember three young career soldiers in a civil prison having been dishonorably discharged after a Marijuana charge, but that was the sixties, and use was rampant an illegal. The presence of a criminal record especially with jail time was a  non erasable record that a I suspect must have ruined many career ambitions, sad, and although my actions were perfectly correct I often wonder just how bad it affected some lives, and do feel some responsibility for it.

 

I think while I too would have had conflicting emotions about it now if I had been a cop at that time, the law was the law at that time. Might we look to the old adage that the law is sometimes an ass?

I don't know if you have ever smoked iweed yourself but even if not I expect you know the effects are nothing like alcohol which is perfectly legal. It's a mellowing effect making people more social. Stoners aren't roaming the streets starting fights.

While as I have no doubts you know perhaps even more than I do that people go insane on alcohol. I heard it said in a Scottish documentary one time that at least 50% of all people in Scottish prisons on murder charges couldn't even remember the murder. Out of their faces on bevvy.

Why do we tolerate this? Well we tolerate it because we know we can never stop it. The US tried it with prohibition and that didn't last long. It merely resulted in a situation where the mobsters took over the supply. Exactly what we see happening with weed and other drugs right now.

Weed in particular we're never going to stop it no matter how much money and resources we throw at it. And I can think of pretty much no positives in trying to do so but plenty of positives in legalisation.

Harder drugs well that's one for people with far more expertise than me to figure out. But on the whole I can currently only see predominately negatives in trying to stop that too.

It costs money, vast police time, court time and money, brings drug wars to our streets, kills people who have ingested inferior products cut with who knows what.

[ri Alban]

On 01/02/2008 at 18:27, Rawrrrrrrr said:

This has been all over the media yesterday and today

 

Does anyone actually believe it?

 

I can't help but think its due to the policing of drugs in edinburgh being far less tolerant

 

I cant actually believe that edinburgh has a worse drug problem than the likes of aberdeen, glasgow, dundee or fife

Didn’t make trainspotting for nothing. 

[ri Alban]

12 hours ago, manaliveits105 said:

Of course there is a drug problem but not buying that its worse than the weeg and surrounds - absolute weegia tripe - no doubt aided by the plastic weegie in charge of us whose actual constituency has a huge problem . We really need our politicians to start challenging the weegie bias in the media and campaign to get one of the tv stations moved to the Capital . 

It's those pesky Glaswegians. Take responsibility for your epidemic.  If Glasgow and the West had your dismissive attitude, they'd never get Knife crime and its drug epidemic under control. Hopefully the open safe zones and give whoever objects the middle finger. 

 

You can stay in denial.