If it wasn't for safer injecting sites I wouldn't be alive today that's for sure because I wouldn't be able to stay alive long enough to hit bottom – to have a moment of clarity where I was able to say 'I don't want to do this any more'. "

Trey Helton, manager of the Overdose Prevention Society in Vancouver

In part two of The Ferret investigates…the health gap – a three-part special podcast from The Ferret media co-op and Greater Govanhill magazine – we look at drug deaths, one of the key factors driving Scottish health inequalities.

In Scotland, men in the most deprived areas of Scotland have a life expectancy of almost 14 years less than those in the most affluent areas. And for women that gap is ten and a half years.

A total of 1,051 people died of drug overdoses across Scotland in 2022 – that’s almost three people a day. And you’re 16 times as likely to die of a drug overdose if you live in a deprived community than if you live in a wealthy one.

In this episode we visit Simon Community Scotland's We See You project and hear from coordinator Jim Thomson and participant Owen Docherty about the power of finding connection.

We also visit Vancouver where Trey Helton tells us how the Overdose Prevention Society is saving lives, and we hear from indigenous women at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre – a group disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis there – about how reconnecting with their culture is helping them heal.

In the studio we hear from Simon Community Scotland's Claire Longmuir and Professor Andrew McAuley from Glasgow Caledonian University about what's working in Scotland and what more we need to do.

You can find all three episodes of The Ferret investigates...the health gap on The Ferret or wherever you get your podcasts.

Credits:

Hosts: Karin Goodwin, of The Ferret and Samar Jamal, of Greater Govanhill magazine

Interviews: Karin Goodwin

Production: Halina Rifai and Karin Goodwin

Episode editing and sound: Halina Rifai

Music: Loris S. Sarid

Package about indigenous culture

Reporting, sound recording and writing: Karin Goodwin

Editing and sound design: Flora Zajicek

The Vancouver interviews were recorded on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil Waututh Nations.