‘Taking drugs is not inherently dangerous ... stars, the rich and politicians use them’
Extraordinary statement by minister in SNP Government
TAKING drugs is ‘not inherently dangerous’, a Scottish Government minister has claimed.
Despite Scotland being in the grip of the highest drug death rate in Europe, Lorna Slater played down the dangers of drug use.
Miss Slater said that the fact that some celebrities, rich people and high-profile politicians take drugs shows that ‘using drugs is not inherently dangerous’.
But drug recovery groups branded the comments ‘dangerous, naïve and stupid’.
Opponents last night called for Nicola Sturgeon to publicly condemn the comments given Scotland has the highest rate of drug deaths in the whole of Europe.
Miss Slater, who was appointed by the First Minister as her minister for green skills, circular economy and biodiversity in August, made the comments in an interview with the Untribal podcast after being questioned on her support for full decriminalisation of drugs.
Asked whether it could lead to a boom in drug use because people no longer worry about getting caught, she said: ‘Well, I think what you are kind of buying into is this idea that the reason that you don’t use drugs is because they are illegal. And I don’t think that is true; lots of people use drugs and they are illegal.
‘The problem is that, and you can see this from when you see high profile people using drugs, celebrities and high-profile politicians and so on: using drugs is not inherently dangerous.
‘Many celebrities and rich people use them, some well-known politicians have used drugs. So, using drugs is not inherently dangerous. But using drugs becomes dangerous when the drugs are illegal because you can’t get them safely.’
Scottish Conservative public health spokesman Sue Webber said: ‘These are astoundingly reckless comments from Lorna Slater. For a government minister to publicly say that drug use “isn’t inherently dangerous”, when Scotland has the highest drug-death figures in Europe, defies belief.
‘Lorna Slater must recognise she is in a position of influence, and urgently retract her comments. Nicola Sturgeon has vowed to address her shameful record on drugs deaths, she too must also condemn these irresponsible remarks made by her minister.’
Annemarie Ward, chief executive of Faces & Voices of Recovery UK, said: ‘We know in Scotland that you are 18 times more likely to die if you live in one of our poorer communities, so this is middleclass naivety talking. To say that is dangerous, naive and stupid.’
She urged the First Minister, or Drugs Minister Angela Constance, to ‘educate her’.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Miss Slater was expressing her personal views in this podcast. The Scottish Government position on the issue of decriminalisation of drugs, and the harm drugs cause, is unchanged.’
The Scottish Greens failed to respond when asked if Miss Slater stands by her comments and thinks they are appropriate for a government minister.