Record led way in bid to cut toll

THE DAILY Record’s front page in July 2019, calling for the decriminalisation of drug possession, came as Scotland’s drug death crisis was exposed as the worst in the world. Our view that this needed to be treated as a health crisis rather than a criminal justice matter quickly became mainstream. At the forefront of our thinking were those most vulnerable to dying of overdoses, as well as their families. We have spoken to many of the families affected – real people whose lives have been wrecked by addiction issues arising from poverty and trauma. We’ve witnessed their pain, watched their tears and listened to their stories of loss. Our stance is now supported by the SNP, Scottish Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens. The Record’s view was informed by hundreds of interviews and meetings with families, academics, police, politicians and experts from all sides of society. In 2016 we were the only Scottish media outlet to address the big spike in deaths caused by fake Valium (etizolam) and polydrug use. We had heard from communities across Scotland of large numbers of addicts dying after taking cheap “vallies” pills alongside drugs like heroin. Tragically, the drug death figures that emerged that same year provided solid proof that Scotland was in the midst of a drug death disaster.

By 2019 we went all-in on this issue and we went to Portugal to meet the main architects of their system.

On our front page shortly afterwards, we called for decriminalisation of drugs as a starting point for recovery.

Our call for a public inquiry into the deaths crisis was met directly by the Scottish Government’s formation of the “faster acting” Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce.

In December last year, as our drug death rate became the worst recorded in the world, our editorial stated: “Covid has shown it takes cold, hard cash and the desire to bring real change to effectively tackle a public health emergency.”

Later, in an open letter to Nicola Sturgeon, the Record said: “Your first response should be to get the Scottish Government’s hands in its ever-deepening pockets before inevitable austerity brings another excuse for allowing more people to die.”

The First Minister tweeted: “This in @Daily_ Record is fair. It’s on us @scotgov to show we are on top of the drugs crisis.”

In January Sturgeon pledged an annual £50million extra funding for drugs schemes over five years.

Yesterday came the radical policy shift that will see personal possession of all drugs dealt with by police warnings and more use of diversions from prosecution.

This will also give greater access to health and social care that most addicts desperately need.