Does Sunderland have a Heroin problem?

[Litten]

There's a fair few around Washington, I hate seeing them going to the Chemist for their Methadone / needle exchanges, f***ing proper scruffs, I'm glad I've never felt the need to end my life like they have, because that stuff is the road to hell.

yeah, I have to go to the chemists quite regularly now for myself and my son and from when I lived in Washington to now living in Gateshead I'm always surprised by how many people turn up for their methadone fix. I'd never realised what a big problem it is!

 

[Teesdale Branch]

no mate, not been on here a while and I despise tommy robinson

I bet he's really bothered by you not liking him. Flowerpot

 

[Weremuthe]

On occasions I have been in the Well chemists on Dundas Street at methodone doling out time. The junkies coming for their fix were like the living dead. It was noticeable that they all had facial characteristics that suggested limited intellect. Maybe heroin does that to some people.

My surgery/pharmacy is down the East End and late in the afternoon the poor buggers turn up for their 'meth health drink' - its the same further up the road at the Pharmacy in the old Cameron Paint building.

 

[chriswallace85]

Former pit villages are rife with it as well.



One at bottom of Sunniside/Tatum street is a cracker, at methadone drop in time it looks like the Walking dead version of the queues at the SOL ticket office for Man City cup finals

Ya used to be able to go on google street view on Norfolk Street and they'd pictured some scrote leaning into a BMW driver's window and a pretty obvious exchange taking place.

If ya go on now there's a couple of shift looking scruffs on the street corner probably doing the same thing.

 

[Frijj]

I think the estimated incidence of opiate use is relatively high, as is the incidence of injecting, so Sunderland probably has more of a problem than the England average.

Not as bad as Hartlepool or Middlesbrough though, where it’s rife.

 

[shepherd88]

Ya used to be able to go on google street view on Norfolk Street and they'd pictured some scrote leaning into a BMW driver's window and a pretty obvious exchange taking place.

If ya go on now there's a couple of shift looking scruffs on the street corner probably doing the same thing.

class

 

[The Muffin Man]

class

Class "A" for sure

 

[Left For Dead]

I bet he's really bothered by you not liking him. Flowerpot

that man doesn't think for himself at all - just thinks for whoever will follow him, normally those easily led and who are scared.

I think the estimated incidence of opiate use is relatively high, as is the incidence of injecting, so Sunderland probably has more of a problem than the England average.

Not as bad as Hartlepool or Middlesbrough though, where it’s rife.

yeah, remember coming out of Middlesbrough Empire 20 years ago regularly at 3am and there would be smack heads asking for money.

 

[Deleted User 2893]

It's in Cumbria, not the north east, but this article about Barrow's heroin problems is fascinating:

Death by the sea: how drug abuse is scarring Britain’s coastal towns

There's a link in there about the 2017 heroin death hotspots in the UK. 7/10 are coastal and two fo the other three are northern and post-industrial.

Barrow has for many years now been a heroin infested shit hole.

 

[look out piano]

yeah, I have to go to the chemists quite regularly now for myself and my son and from when I lived in Washington to now living in Gateshead I'm always surprised by how many people turn up for their methadone fix. I'd never realised what a big problem it is!

It's horrible, I see the same folks I knew were smack heads from 20 years ago, still slaves to it, still a mess and looking way older than they are.

 

[Bob Fleming]

Me missus doles out the methadone. Some shops she's worked it's what they do for most of the day. Stockton is the worst place around the north east.

Similar to here Australia has a huge problem with Ice which is affecting the small country towns mostly. Unemployment, poor social care and boredom have allowed the dealers to exploit. It's pretty much an epidemic.

 

[HANDSOME_DAN]

Me missus doles out the methadone. Some shops she's worked it's what they do for most of the day. Stockton is the worst place around the north east.

Similar to here Australia has a huge problem with Ice which is affecting the small country towns mostly. Unemployment, poor social care and boredom have allowed the dealers to exploit. It's pretty much an epidemic.

Aye, in some areas where the parades of shops are generally dying the chemist business is expanding. In fairness to the people who are on it I bet loads are just daft kids in their teens who don’t realise the consequences of their actions. The problem then is that a sizeable majority end up being a complete scourge on society for the rest of their lives in terms of crime and contributing nowt to society. The dealers are the real problem imo. More serious sentences for dealing are needed imo. You get life for murder but a dealer is taking multiple lives away peddling smack.

 

[Mackem DJ]

So fuming you're no longer making any sense

Fuming this one

 

[dangermows]

Fuming this one

Fair play for admitting it marra.

 

[Frijj]

Aye, in some areas where the parades of shops are generally dying the chemist business is expanding. In fairness to the people who are on it I bet loads are just daft kids in their teens who don’t realise the consequences of their actions. The problem then is that a sizeable majority end up being a complete scourge on society for the rest of their lives in terms of crime and contributing nowt to society. The dealers are the real problem imo. More serious sentences for dealing are needed imo. You get life for murder but a dealer is taking multiple lives away peddling smack.

Heroin tends to be more of an issue amongst middle aged men now. Young people these days are more into weed, pills or ‘legal highs’.

Not to say that young people don’t use heroin, they do, but the cohort of heroin users tends to be the 35-55 year olds in the main

I’ve not seen national information but this is the way it is where I work (in public health) so I wouldn’t expect it to be different anywhere else

 

[Mackem DJ]

Aye, in some areas where the parades of shops are generally dying the chemist business is expanding. In fairness to the people who are on it I bet loads are just daft kids in their teens who don’t realise the consequences of their actions. The problem then is that a sizeable majority end up being a complete scourge on society for the rest of their lives in terms of crime and contributing nowt to society. The dealers are the real problem imo. More serious sentences for dealing are needed imo. You get life for murder but a dealer is taking multiple lives away peddling smack.

Its worth the risk though at present. A lot of forces are turning a blind eye and even those who are caught know they just need to play the no comment game and let the coppers do the hard work. A lot have someone else willing to take the rap and do a 2 stretch in exchange for a few grand when they get out.

 

[Man About Town]

Watch out for Cake users

 

[HANDSOME_DAN]

Heroin tends to be more of an issue amongst middle aged men now. Young people these days are more into weed, pills or ‘legal highs’.

Not to say that young people don’t use heroin, they do, but the cohort of heroin users tends to be the 35-55 year olds in the main

I’ve not seen national information but this is the way it is where I work (in public health) so I wouldn’t expect it to be different anywhere else

Good thing that it’s going out of fashion

 

[Mackem DJ]

Fair play for admitting it marra.

Have another line

 

[HANDSOME_DAN]

Its worth the risk though at present. A lot of forces are turning a blind eye and even those who are caught know they just need to play the no comment game and let the coppers do the hard work. A lot have someone else willing to take the rap and do a 2 stretch in exchange for a few grand when they get out.

That 2 stretch should be a 10-20