AUDIT Scotland says “that amid our spiralling illicit drug deaths, progress [by the Scottish Government] has been too slow” (“SNP ministers urged to draw up plans to cut drug and drink deaths”, The Herald, March 8). I agree, and there are reasons for that. The Scottish and UK governments have been far too close to the tobacco and alcohol industries, and reluctant to upset them because of the massive income these drug companies provide in taxes.

I said “these drug companies” quite deliberately, because nicotine and alcohol are very powerful and addictive drugs. The new cash cow, the vaping industry, continues to feed the nicotine habits of ex-smokers.

The facts about deaths from tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs make interesting reading. We have around 10,000 smoking-related deaths every year in Scotland. Why, I wonder, has that same figure been reported for at least the last 20 years? It should have reduced because of all the millions spent by governments. Each year smoking is responsible for around 33,500 hospital admissions.

The latest alcohol deaths of 1,020 do not include deaths from suicide, road traffic accidents, violence, falls or fires in the home. There were 35,499 stays in hospital from alcohol problems; four per cent of adults in Scotland, 106,500, have alcohol dependency.

Our total drug deaths are clearly not reported accurately. The news headlines about drug deaths are only about illicit drugs. However, the number one cause of drugs deaths is still smoking, with alcohol second. Almost all illicit drug users smoke and consume alcohol as well. So illicit drugs deaths are the third and lesser problem.

All these highly addictive drugs are used by people to self-medicate, because of the traumas in their lives, or hidden and undiagnosed mental health problems.

The Scottish Government is working hard to find solutions, but the costs are massive. If the Scottish Conservatives' plea for instant access to residential drug rehabilitation were to be offered it would cost £3-£4k per week or £36-£48k for a three-month treatment, with a success rate of under fiver per cent. High-quality community-based treatments costing the equivalent of imprisonment, £730 a week, would be more affordable and successful. My proposal for a community-based Addiction Recovery Passport based on that figure was rejected by the Scottish Government. If Audit Scotland wants value for money, this idea might worth a second look.

Max Cruickshank, Glasgow.

ANTI-TIDAL RHETORIC DOESN'T WASH

GEOFF Moore (Letters, March 7) seems to me to examine the field of tidal power somewhat selectively. He makes no mention of the La Rance scheme, which the French have been running successfully for almost 60 years.

The Ruain Burrows research paper he mentions was focused on the north-west of England, specifically barriers across the Dee and Mersey. Other than the Solway, no Scottish firths were mentioned, let alone studied, as Ms Burrows acknowledges. Mr Moore states that there would be excess power generated at night at a time when there would be no demand for it. Has he not heard of pumped storage or hydrogen generation (albeit that at the moment there are technical problems with the transmission and storage of hydrogen)?

He makes no mention of the contribution that could be made by either fixed or floating tidal turbines as found in the Northern Isles and the Pentland Firth. These could be sited so that peak output is not synchronal if that is likely to be a problem (for example, the tides at Wick and Thurso differ by some three hours). Should Mr Moore wish to see the power of the tidal stream I suggest he crosses the Cromarty Firth to Cromarty harbour and watches the waters of the firth power through the gaps in the harbour wall.

If Mr Moore wishes to expound on the problems of tidal power he does not improve his case by ignoring those facts which might just be detrimental to his thesis.

David M Clubb, Lenzie.

* GEOFF Moore completely missed the point. Vladimir Putin’s madness shows that we must explore every avenue to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel. Especially his. The object of investment in research and development is to overcome exactly the sort of problem Mr Moore describes. As wind power has had to do over several years.

If we are going to continue with our negative, blinkered attitude to safe and effective nuclear power, then every reasonable alternative deserves adequate funding.

John N E Rankin, Bridge of Allan.

WHY IS GLASGOW DIRTIER THAN OTHERS?

I VISITED Perth last night (March 8) to attend a Tommy Emmanuel concert. He was spectacular as usual, but the most memorable part of my visit to that fair city was to find litter-free streets and the apparent complete absence of potholes in the roads.

It makes me wonder why, when Glasgow’s average council tax rates are higher than those in Perth and even those of hoity-toity Edinburgh, it’s just Glasgow’s streets that are so clarty and bedecked with litter and our roads beginning to look like no-man’s-land after the Battle of the Somme.

How can they do it but George Square can't?

David J Crawford, Glasgow.

THE HUMOUR OF SCOTLAND'S EINSTEIN

THE picture painted of James Clerk Maxwell in your article ("Celebration of forgotten scientist being hailed 'Scotland's Einstein'", The Herald, March 8) was one of a serious, even humourless person. This was not the case. As a Burns aficionado he was well known for adapting the Bard's work into his subject of physics, the prime example being:

RIGID BODY SINGS

"Gin a body meet a body

Flyin’ through the air.

Gin a body hit a body,

Will it fly? And where?

Ilka impact has its measure,

Ne’er a ane hae I,

Yet a’ the lads they measure me,

Or, at least, they try.

Gin a body meet a body

Altogether free,

How they travel afterwards

We do not always see.

Ilka problem has its method

By analytics high;

For me, I ken na ane o’ them,

But what the waur am I?"

Valentine by a Telegraph Clerk is yet another example of combining his humour and his subject and talent for educating.

Peter Wright, West Kilbride.