Putting city on recovery road

IT is understandable that there is a certain level of scepticism around the creation of Dundee’s Drugs Commission and what it can actually achieve (see pages 4&5).

Its chairman is already on record as saying its priority has to be cutting the toll of tragedy associated with substance misuse.

Dundee is by no stretch of the imagination unique in having a drugs problem, but far too many families have been left grieving a loved one lost to the ravages of addiction.

So what can the commission do to change this and help the city shake-off the horrible label of Scotland’s drug deaths capital?

Well, as a starting point, it is already preparing to tackle a glaring issue which has again been highlighted in Scottish Government statistics.

New figures show people in Dundee are waiting far too long to access addiction support services — far longer than the government’s own three-week target in most cases.

Work has already started to “join-up” a number of services to try to help those who want to turn around their lives get the assistance they need, and quickly.

And the goal is to create a seven-day service not just for addicts, but for the families and carers who have to endure the agony of watching lives being torn apart by drug misuse.

The commission will also try to ensure its approach evolves to take account of the changing needs of those trying to break the miserable cycle of addiction.

No one on the commission is pretending they have all the answers, or that things will change overnight.

But they have now set the city on what is likely to be a long road to recovery from its shocking drugs problem.