Stop blaming others

Problem so it’s time to

EVERY Wednesday, I write this column in the Tele.

More often than not, it’s about Dundee – and most weeks it’s full of optimism.

It’s about the fairytale transformation of our city, much maligned and derided over the years and now having its Cinderella moment – voted the best place to stay in Scotland, named the UK’s first and only Unesco city of design, the location of a £1 billion Waterfront development and the chosen home of the only V&A design museum outside London.

But last week, we read of a tragedy. Not only of Scotland having three times the drugs death rate per 1,000 people compared to England and Wales but of Dundee having twice that sky-high rate.

News headlines around the UK declared a state of emergency in Scotland, with 0.21 deaths per 1,000 people in 2017 compared to 0.06 fatalities in England and Wales.

And yet our own rates in Dundee are double that “state of emergency” Scottish rate at 0.44 per one thousand – six times the average in England and Wales, giving us the highest drugs deaths rate per capita in Europe and on a par with America as the world’s deadliest developed countries in terms of drug overdoses.

That is shocking enough. But the phrase “double the national average rate” rang a bell and so I delved through my old columns and Tele stories.

The results make uncomfortable reading.

Under-16s in this city fall pregnant twice as often as teens elsewhere, equating to 7.2 underage girls in 1,000 – more than double the national Scottish rate of 3.5 per every 1,000 and higher than any other council area in Scotland.

Dundee also has the highest rate of pregnant women addicted to drugs in Scotland – with the latest figures showing the rate of drug misuse was 32.4 per 1,000 pregnancies. The figure has fallen slightly but is still more than twice the national average of 13.1.

That phrase again – “twice the national average”.

Our pregnancy rate of teenage pregnancies is 50.8 per 1,000 women which again is the highest in Scotland, although a huge drop of 45.1% on its peak in 2007.

Sitting slightly above the national average would be worrying enough but how can we have double the drugs deaths rate, double the underage pregnancy rate and double the rate of pregnant women addicted to drugs?

And yet, Dundee is the only city in Scotland not to have a single rehab centre.

SNP politicians such as Chris Law in Dundee may wring their hands and say “it’s not my fault”’ because Westminster is in charge of drugs policy but you’re the Scottish Government, for goodness sake.

If other cities in Scotland have rehab centres and we have the biggest problem, is it not time to stop blaming everyone else?

The buzz around Dundee and its transformation is palpable. But there is also a tragedy happening that is hidden from the shiny new bars, hotels and museums.

It is shocking, it is maddening and confusing and most of all, it is heartbreaking to think so many people have been let down.

The time for change is long overdue and it must happen now.