DAMNED GENERATION
Hard-hitting report nails harsh truth that Margaret Thatcher’s devastation of working-class industry in the 80s directly led to Scotland’s drug epidemic and the premature deaths of our young men born in the 60s and 70s .. and it warns that current Tory po
MARGARET Thatcher’s destruction of Scotland’s industrial heartlands doomed a generation to early drug deaths, an explosive study for the NHS has found.
And the report warns the policies pursued by the current Tory Government mean another generation now face a similarly bleak future.
NHS Health Scotland and Glasgow University researchers say rising inequality during the 80s increased the risk of drug-related deaths among members of so-called Generation X.
The analysis found that a group of poorer males born between 1960 and 1980 were at increased risk because of the economic and social conditions of the decade they reached adulthood.
Drug deaths reached an all-time peak in 2015, with figures released last year showing that 706 people died.
The report found spiralling unemployment and an “erosion of hope” caused by UK Government policy in the 80s meant young Scots turned to drugs and alcohol and this has had a “delayed negative health impact”.
It also suggests the welfare and employment policies pursued since the Tories returned to power in 2010 mean another generation is now in danger of similar devastation.
It says: “There is also a risk that more recent exposures to a more ‘flexible’ labour market and greater conditionality and sanctions in the social security system, particularly for young working-age adults, may in time lead to another cohort at high risk.
“Continued surveillance of this population is therefore merited.”
David Walsh, a public health programme manager at the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, explained how the politics of the 80s led to the increase in drug deaths.
He said: “The Thatcher government were embarking on a set of policies that were widening inequalities in society and having a particular impact in places like Glasgow.
“These were areas that were industrial but were about to become post-industrial because of the accelerated levels of deindustrialisation created by those policies.
“Clearly, that has a huge impact on society in terms of the loss of a huge amount of industrial employment. Related to that you have the increase in the levels of poverty.
“People react to poverty in particular ways in terms of the use of coping mechanisms such as the use of alcohol and also drugs.” Dr Jon Minton, of Glasgow University, said there was a similar pattern with people from deprived communities having increased risk of suicide after the 1980s.
He added: “For people born in 60s and 70s, the risk of drug-related deaths throughout the life course was much increased, and gender and area inequalities in these risks increased even more.”
Opponents called the report a damning indictment of the Thatcher government.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said: “This shows the devastating legacy left behind by Margaret Thatcher’s callous policies.
“As the report explains the Tory government’s policies of the 80s – which saw the destruction of many working-class communities and a vast rise in unemployment – led to rising income inequality and eroded hope across the UK.
“This report must serve as a reminder to today’s politicians that we must never go back to the days when the most vulnerable in society were simply abandoned.”
SNP MSP Ivan McKee added: “This research confirms what many in Scotland understand intuitively – that the Thatcher years left a lasting and devastating impact on a whole generation.
“For some, that legacy of disruption, lost hope and damaged communities continues right to the present day.
“The Tory austerity agenda risks endangering another generation.
“We should be absolutely determined not to repeat the same mistakes again.”
But Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs rejected the findings of the research.
He said: “For the last 30 years, we have seen a drugs policy which parks many addicts on methadone programmes.
“Scottish Conservatives have been the only party calling for change to try to get people out of drugs and a life of addiction.
“What Scotland needs is politicians who will look to address the challenges facing our country and our health services – not just score cheap political points.”
Dr Andrew Fraser, of NHS Health Scotland, said: “We are hopeful that the findings will be useful in informing current and future policy to help prevent the creation of further cohorts at greater risk of drug-related deaths in Scotland.”