SCOTLAND’S drug crisis took a further turn for the worse last week with news of a record-high number of deaths for the sixth consecutive year, reinforcing our position as the “sick man of Europe”. The latest figures, for 2019, revealed a 6% rise to 1264, the worst rate in Europe of drug deaths per capita and three and a half times higher than England and Wales. Scotland had 295 drug deaths per million of the population between 15 and 64 with the next highest Sweden at 81. That prompted First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to apologise “to every family who has suffered grief’” and to say that she would be driving forward the response after the next Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce (SDDT) meeting on January 12.
December 17, 2020
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Thailand, the sole Asian country to legalise cannabis for medical use , is so keen on educating locals about the drug ’s benefits that tourism and sports minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn this month unveiled a medical marijuana tour that will cover eight provinces, set to kick off next year.
But not too far away, in Singapore, top officials are singing a starkly different tune.
Law and home affairs minister K. Shanmugam has in recent weeks taken to social media on multiple occasions to stress the island nation’s zero-tolerance stance on drugs – marijuana included.
Earlier this month, he told local media Singapore had to “hold the line” on the issue and needed to persuade the international community “based on rationality and science”.
Why is Asia divided on a green light for medical marijuana? Thursday, 17 December 2020
Thailand, the sole Asian country to legalise cannabis for medical use, is so keen on educating locals about the drug’s benefits that tourism and sports minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn this month unveiled a medical marijuana tour that will cover eight provinces, set to kick off next year. But not too far away, in Singapore, top officials are singing a starkly different tune.
Law and home affairs minister K. Shanmugam has in recent weeks taken to social media on multiple occasions to stress the island nation’s zero-tolerance stance on drugs – marijuana included. Earlier this month, he told local media Singapore had to “hold the line” on the issue and needed to persuade the international community “based on rationality and science”.