Trainspotting actor urges ministers to investigate drug-free addiction treatment
As Kenny Dalglish celebrates a milestone birthday, we enlist KELLY CATES He might have been the boss at work but mum was always a match for him at home
Trainspotting star Ewan Mcgregor has urged the Scottish Government to investigate a drug- free treatment to break the cycle of addiction.
The actor, who played heroin addict Mark Renton in the landmark 1996 film, has narrated a documentary which charts the successful trials of Neuro Electric Therapy (NET) in the US.
Two we e k s a g o, The Sunday Post revealed plans for the first clinic to offer the treatment in Scotland are under way with a 34-bed private residential unit expected to open by the end of summer.
NET uses tiny pulses of electrical currents to stimulate brain chemicals which supporters say can ease addicts through a comfortable, pain- free withdrawal from heroin.
How e v e r, S c o t l a n d ’s drugs minister Angela Constance, who has been tasked with reducing the country’s drug- death toll, the worst in Europe, has dismissed the treatment citing research suggesting the therapy was “no more effective than a placebo”.
Now Mcgregor has called on ministers to properly consider NET, suggesting they start by watching the documentary he narrated called The Final Fix.
He said: “This film takes a hard look at this different kind of treatment and it really seems to work. I would hope that the authorities would take notice and perhaps explore for themselves. It’s at least worth exploration. Current treatment for drug addiction often utilises other addictive drugs and that may not be the answer.”
Heroin substitute methadone has been central to the government’s drugs policies but critics of the programme suggest it merely substitutes one drug for another and traps users in addiction.
Meanwhile, the number of rehab beds has fallen from around 700 to less than 200.
NET was developed in the 1970s by Ho n g Kong-based Scottish surgeon Meg Patterson. She believed a low- level current, delivered painlessly to the brain from two small electrodes behind the ears, caused the development of chemicals which allowed addicts to detox without the painful and distressing sideeffects of withdrawal, and could be adjusted to treat different opioids.
The treatment has already been used to help music stars Eric Clapton, Pete
Townshend and Boy George to beat addiction.
Dr Patterson’s family is determined to carry on the work she started with the first clinic planned for Scotland to be offering treatment by the end of the summer.
Campaigners are calling on the Scottish Government to back a proper pilot study which could lead to addicts becoming drug and medicationfree after shocking findings showed half of Scotland’s drug victims had methadone in their system when they died.
Support for a new assessment of NET is echoed by author and social commentator Darren Mcgarvey. He said: “The documentary is utterly compelling and, given the level of drug deaths we have in Scotland, this is the time we should be exploring all options, particularly alternatives to methadone which leaves far too many chained to the medication instead of freeing them.
“Whenever something comes along that is so different, of course there is reluctance from some and a lack of understanding from others which combine to bring resistance to something like NET.
“But just because a treatment is misunderstood is no excuse to not try it and explore the possibilities of how it might help some people. There is a need for a proper pilot study and good evidence base, so why don’t the government take the opportunity to do those and see for themselves?
“They need to be looking at all kinds of treatment, including NET, as well as increasing the availability of rehab places and c o m m u n i t y- b a s e d p ro - grammes which will make a difference.”
Tory MSP Miles Briggs said: “I’ve implored the Minister to see the documentary and the evidence for herself as this is far too good an opportunity to help people for it to be dismissed without proper examination of what it can do.
“I’ve met with many people who want nothing more than to be drug free, and if NET can do that and break the cycle of addiction, the Scottish Government must look at it with an open mind and not dismiss it out of hand as they have done.”
The Scottish Government said: “We a re open to looking at any approaches that have a strong evidence base that may be able to help save lives.
“A d v i c e previously received on NET highlighted a lack of evidence, but if that changed then we are open to looking at it again.”
Actor Ewan Mcgregor
Given the level of drug deaths, we should be looking at all options Author Darren Mcgarvey
Football legend Kenny Dalglish will turn 70 on Thursday and, as he prepares to celebrate the milestone, we look back on a life of achievement. King
Kenny, a Sunday Post columnist, is loved and respected not only by fans of his clubs but across communities, particularly in Liverpool, where he was tireless in supporting families left bereft by Hillsborough.
Here MURRAY SCOUGALL talks to some of those who know him best while in our football section, Post Match, Scotland skipper Andy Robertson, another Liverpool legend, pays his own personal tribute.
MY DAD
Kenny’s eldest daughter, sports broadcaster Kelly Cates, says that while her dad was unparalleled on the field, at home it was mum Marina who called the shots.
“Maybe, through football, people will think he’s a certain way or a little grumpy, but when he comes home my mum is more than a match for him,” said Kelly. “In a house with a wife and three daughters, he didn’t get the chance to throw his weight around without there being a rabble of us taking the mickey out of him.
“Family has always been his priority, making sure we’re all right. He was the kind of dad a lot of people will recognise. If I was to talk of a Glasgow dad, people will know what I mean. It was quite oldschool in that he would go to work and my mum ran the house.”
Kelly and brother Paul were babies when their parents moved from Glasgow to Liverpool, and she remembers going to games at Anfield from a young age.
She said: “When they first moved down, they didn’t have a babysitter, so we’d go to the games with them and that’s when it all started. I suppose it’s quite rare for your kids to turn up at your workplace, but we did it every other week. Football was always part of our lives, not because it was dad’s job, but because it was something we were all interested in as a family.”
Kelly remembers going to a Rod Stewart concert at Ibrox with her parents when she was young and finding it strange that people in the crowd were shouting out to him, because where she grew up the residents tended to leave him alone.
“No one was bothered about him where we lived, so it wasn’t something Paul and I had, but my sisters probably experienced it more when he went to Newcastle and then back up to Celtic.”
The pandemic will prevent the entire family coming together on Thursday to celebrate Kenny’s 70th, but Kelly says they are all trying to get together virtually – if football doesn’t get in the way.
“My brother is in Miami, so we are dealing with different time zones and trying to work out when it’s not too late for my sister’s boys and my girls, but not when Paul’s twins are at school,” she added. “We’re leaving all the logistics to mum.
“Dad always pretends he doesn’t want a fuss around his birthday, but really he does want a song and dance. Now there’s a Liverpool match arranged on his birthday, and so I think he’s quite excited that when he goes to Anfield everyone there will know it’s his birthday. He always pretends he’s not bothered but he loves the attention!”
The devastating toll of the coronavirus pandemic has been detailed for the first time by the largest Scottish care home group.
Staff have spoken of the stress they suffered after 41 elderly residents died during outbreaks at 10 of Balhousie Care Group’s 26 facilities. That trauma has left some suffering ongoing problems with depression, and in some cases still needing treatment for conditions such as night terrors.
The operator said 160 residents and 146 staff contracted the virus in the past year and the additional financial burden of the pandemic is estimated to be £500,000.
The deaths of more than 3,000 elderly residents have been linked to Covid-19, the majority in the first wave when hospital patients, many who had tested positive, were transferred to care homes in their hundreds. The Scottish Parliament voted last year for an immediate judge- led inquiry but the Scottish Government has said the time is not right to begin this process.
Balhousie is the first Scottish care home group to reveal detailed figures and chief executive Jill Kerr has called on other operators to do the same. She said: “We felt the time was right to be fully transparent with how the last year has impacted us, in the hope that other care providers will follow.
“The public and politicians need to understand more fully what we as care home operators have been through and continue to go through and how the Covid19 pandemic has re s h a p e d our sector forever.”
The Sunday Post can also reveal Scotland’s information watchdog is investig a t i n g whether the