Dundee mum Fiona Ballantine, who has been using heroin substitute methadone for 23 years, has no right to be angry. She made her bed, she should now lie in it.
How dare she question where the detox and rehab facilities in Dundee are?
Maybe if she got a job and paid taxes like most hard-working people then she would be entitled to ask such a question.
I’m sick of junkies giving us their hard luck stories and making demands for this and that, all of which is funded by taxpayers hard earned cash.
They deserve absolutely nothing. I’d rather see the money spent on more jails to get addicts off our streets. — The Watcher.
Zero tolerance
While having some sympathy with Fiona Ballantine, I must say, after reading the whole story, I’m surprised she is moaning about a lack of care for users like herself.
She freely admitted to taking every drug available, whilst in London, then bemoans the lack of help.
Nobody forced her to put all sorts of banned substances into her body.
It makes a mockery of the so-called experts who many claim countless users are weaned off drugs after being prescribed methadone.
Twenty-three years a methadone user hardly backs up these facts.
I read there were more than 54,000 methadone users in Scotland, costing just under £12 million to the working taxpayer.
Most, if not all, will be unfit to work, so all the benefits going will be given to them and they will be housed, Council Tax paid and so on.
It’s about time the police and the courts cracked down on dealers and users, from the smallest to the Pete Dohertys and had a zero tolerance on all drug crime. — Steve Thomson.
Fail to understand
I fail to understand Fiona Ballantine. She gets herself hooked up on illegal drugs then complains it may be a month between seeing a key worker.
She moved to London, where she was given all sorts of help. Moves back to Dundee, gets a council house but cannot get anyone to help her with her self-inflicted problems.
She can’t get to see a physio or psychiatric counsellor and does not get offered rehab or detox. Well neither can I.
The reason I can’t get these services is that I don't need them because unlike this lady, I have not put my body into this situation.
Who pays for these treatments for addicts? Mr and Mrs Normal that’s who. Has this lady ever paid tax or contributed at any time to the public purse? She will be getting full benefits again from Mr and Mrs Normal’s contributions and still she complains. — Dave Souter, Daventry.
Workers could move to city
If you don’t live in Dundee but work in the city, you shouldn’t complain about problems getting to work, having to get your children early to school, parking, the bridge being busy.
You could move to live where you work and put some of your cash back into Dundee through Council Tax.
I’m sick hearing moans from Angus, North East Fife, Central Fife, Perth residents who think they are a cut above Dundee folk.
The worst are former Dundee residents who have moved away from the city and no doubt will complain when their families are looking for work and can’t find it near home. — M. Jamieson, Hillbank Road, Dundee.
Tax row
For years people have been protesting about the Council Tax and how unfair it is, but Labour chose not to listen.
Now we have many 10p tax rebels in the Labour Party protesting about something that is not anything near as unfair as the Council Tax.
Is it any wonder Scotland has said goodbye to Labour? — Council Tax Rebel, Kirkcaldy.
Sheltered housing
I am very concerned Dundee City Council is to mainstream some sheltered housing.
I would like to know to what kind of tenant they intend to offer these houses.
Will they have to be an older tenant, or any age?
If it’s to be the latter I can foresee trouble.
So many times we have seen it happening, nice place, stairs, bins kept clean and then one anti-social tenant moves in and next thing people are wanting to move out. — Concerned Tenant.
Sadly missed
I was greatly saddened to learn of the death of Humphrey Lyttelton.
He was a superb self-taught trumpet player.
He started playing with George Webb’s Dixielanders in the 1940s then led various bands, all top class.
He was still playing a few weeks before his death.
He also had a radio spot for 40 years on Monday nights, where his knowledge of jazz and jazzmen was brilliantly portrayed by the records he played.
All of us jazz devotees have lost a giant. — A. G., Angus, Dundee.
Why work with public?
Why some bus drivers decide to work in a job directly involving the public is a mystery to me.
Some of them would be happy to drive around in an empty bus. I ran uphill one day only to get 10 yards from the stop as the driver of an empty bus drove smilingly past.
On another day I boarded a bus outside Tesco, Monifieth.
When I held up my bus pass the driver nodded towards a scanner. I placed the pass on it. Nothing happened, he kept his eyes fixed on it.
I turned it over thinking it was the wrong way up. It bleeped, so assuming it was okay, I moved on.
He looked at me and inclined his head toward the scanner again. I told him I was new to this and replaced the pass.
By now rolling his eyes in frustration, he said, “Put it there,” his eyes on the scanner again, “Leave it there,” his eyes never leaving the scanner. I waited. His eyes flew heavenwards again. “Now tell iz whaur yir goin.”
I said, indicating the bus, which was empty apart from another lady, himself and me, “What a hard life you have.” He replied, “Eh well, I’ve telt you three times already.”
A course in customer relations seems to be in order. — E. Paul, Dundee.
Tax mess
What a mess Gordon Brown has created. He brought in the 10p tax rate then abolished it. He stated quite categorically that there would be no losers, now his Government is looking at ways to compensate the people he claims don’t exist, who have lost out from his decision.
There is no guarantee anything will be done by November when the Government says it will help the victims of the tax hike.
In the meantime many low-paid people will be losing out. To quote Henry McLeish, “This is a muddle”. — Political Connoisseur.
Doctors deserve priority
Surely the time has come when doctors should have parking spaces allocated to them at Ninewells Hospital.
Councillors in Dundee have their own parking facility under City Square.
Doctors save lives so should get priority parking. Ninewells has plenty of grass areas which could be made into staff parking with access by swipe cards. — B. C., Monifieth.
School places
I read the letter from Allan Petrie regarding the placing request for children within Catholic schools.
I take it by the silence from the education department and the City Council’s legal department that Mr Petrie’s interpretation of the law is correct and it would be illegal for the schools to give preference to children who are baptised as this would be discrimination. — Interested Mother.
Ice cream query
The Lochee was a slider consisting of a wafer on first then a very thin bar of chocolate, then the ice cream followed by the other wafer. Frankie Davies’ famous ice cream shop sold them. — Ex-Lochee Lad, Dundee.
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