MORE TALK.. LESS ACTION
Tory minister opens conference by taking life-saving fix rooms off the table, calling them a distraction Frustrated campaigners claim UK drug summit won’t make any real change that stops addicts dying
BY MARK McGIVERN Chief Reporter
But the Black report does not take into account the scourge of street drugs, such as fake Valium, which many believe is the single biggest driver of Scotland’s drug death rate – more than double that of the rest of Britain.
Speaking at the SEC in Glasgow yesterday, Malthouse said changing the law to accommodate DCRs would be complex and he claimed the evidence on their success is mixed. He said: “This is a complicated problem and there is no silver bullet solution to this.
“To me, drug consumption rooms are a bit of a distraction. If you look around the world at the research, the bulk of people who are dying from consumption need treatment, alongside education, and help and support over a long period.”
When asked if the Home Office would push for the arrest of any individuals or agency to open a DCR without specific permission – as has happened in several other countries – Malthouse said: “Where there is lawbreaking that would be a matter for Police Scotland.” Activists have criticised the Scottish and UK Governments for endless talking and no action, with the Favor UK group running a campaign You Keep Talking We Keep Dying.
They were furious yesterday after the second summit, a day after a Scotland-specific gathering, announced two more key follow-up conferences to examine the fine details of any forthcoming strategies. A ministerial summit for all four UK nations is likely to be held in Belfast next month and a
Scotland-England round-table debate will follow to discuss “county lines” drug dealing, which is allowing English gangs to wreak havoc in hotspots such as Aberdeen and Dundee.
Annemarie Ward, Favor CEO, said: “Today’s summit sounds like more of the same, another talking shop that doesn’t deliver real action to prevent drug deaths.
“We need to see all treatment options on the table but they don’t want to listen. Dismissing evidence is not going to save lives and ignoring most of the Scottish voices with lived experience is a disgrace.”
Dr Catherine Calderwood, chief medical officer for Scotland, said: “We have treated people as criminals, we have pushed them through our justice system, we have not treated them as vulnerable people with very complex needs often driven into these drug habits through their own circumstances.”