'Drugs is the real issue!' Scots rage at SNP's smoking crackdown while THOUSANDS still abuse illegal substances

'Drugs is the real issue!' Scots rage at SNP's smoking crackdown while THOUSANDS still abuse illegal substances

Scots claim that "drugs are the real problem"

GB News
Gabrielle Wilde

By Gabrielle Wilde


Published: 20/02/2024

- 17:27

The Scottish Government has got a 10-year plan for a tobacco-free Scotland

Scottish people have been left livid at the SNP after the Government launched a huge crackdown on smoking.

Speaking to GB News people argued that thousands of people die every year through drugs, and the Government should be spending more time focusing on tackling that.


The Scottish Government has got a 10-year plan for a tobacco-free Scotland, where they intend to abolish cigarettes.

It intends to tackle youth vaping as well as people starting to smoke cigarettes from a young age.

Person from Glasgow

One person in Glasgow claimed that drugs are "really the problem."

GB News

One person in Glasgow claimed that drugs are "really the problem."

Speaking to GB News reporter Tony McGuire, the resident said: "I've had quite a few experiences of smoking when I was younger and it wasn't a good place to be in.

"My grandparents, they were quite heavy smokers and great grandparents and it was rubbish being there.

"The drug problem is an issue at the minute. I've got people I know who have lost their lives unfortunately because of drugs.

"So I definitely think that should be the priority as opposed to smoking."

Person in Glasgow

Scotland continues to have the worst drug death rate in the UK

GB News

A different person said: "I think the intentions are there. I don't know how well it will be able to be executed and I think it takes away People's Choice slightly, but obviously, it's for the good of their health.

"So it overall is a beneficial thing. I think that drugs are obviously a big issue in Scotland, but actually right now in terms of smoking, I think that vaping is the kind of biggest epidemic with young people.

"Because they skip out that smoking cigarettes, they go straight to vaping and don't understand the harm of it and how kind of silly it is."

A third claimed: "Truthfully it doesn't bother me actually, I don't smoke. Drugs are definitely a bigger problem."

Scotland continues to have the worst drug death rate in the UK and the rest of Europe.

Scottish people

Some people said the government needs to crack down on vapes

GB News

There has been a slight dip in the figures meaning that the tide could be turning but according to numbers from 2022, they are still more than three times as common as they were two decades ago.

There were 900 suspected drug deaths between January and September 2023.

The figure constitutes a 13 per cent increase from the same period in the previous year.

Opiates and opioids, including heroin, morphine and methadone, were implicated in more than eight out of 10 drug-related deaths in 2022.

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