We need to find out why a child grows up to become an addict

Early intervention and tackling inequality are both important

Today’s front page highlighting the tragedy of lives lost to drugs has done something important.

While murders and other tragedies are almost certain to reach the front page, drug deaths often go underreported, their victims a mere statistic.

However, community workers in Kirkcaldy’s Gallatown see more than just statistics, they see the realities facing people living in poverty and battling mental health problems.

And by highlighting their work it humanises drug addicts.

While Shuggy Hughes described addicts as being isolated and lonely, they are often feared by others who would rather cross to the other side of the street than approach them.

It is telling that local people asked for “safe spaces to meet and talk” to support people struggling with substance misuse.

Yes, drug use is a scourge on society, fuelling crime and leaving children to fend for themselves in chaotic homes.

However, every drug user has at one point been a child and we need to unravel how that child grew up to be a broken individual.

Early intervention is key to preventing people from falling through the cracks but for some it is too late and they need help as they take the long road back from addiction to being able to function in the outside world.

It shouldn’t be the case that someone has to rely on a speedy response from someone with an opiate overdose kit to save their life.

However, until we live in a utopia where things like abuse and neglect do not exist, such measures give those who have sunk to their lowest a second chance at life.

Meanwhile, people in the Gallatown are doing what they can to improve the area, despite headlines about drug use and violent crime.

Two years ago, a man was murdered in broad daylight in the neighbourhood and since then there have been incidents including an alleged attempted murder, serious assault and knifepoint robbery.

Groups like Aspiring Gallatown are doing vital work to regenerate communities, but unless the chasm of inequality in society is addressed they have a mountain to climb.

All drug addicts were once children and we need to find out why they became the way they are.

FiFe oFFice reporter aileen robertson twitter: @c-arobertson