Drug response must be faster and go further

The resignation of Simon Little as independent chairman of Dundee Alcohol and Drugs Partnership is a worrying development.

Mr Little has not given his reasons publicly for stepping aside, so there is a missing piece of the jigsaw here.

But what is clear is the growing frustration about the speed at which reform on drugs strategy is being formulated and brought forward in Dundee. Many organisations face accusations of being overly bureaucratic and slow-paced.

The difference here is we are not talking about the time it takes to fill

It demands a laser focus to push through the change needed

potholes in the road or too few bin collections.

We are talking about people. Real human beings who have lives to live, love to give and talents to share but, for myriad reasons, have seen their horizons cut short by the impact of spiralling drug use.

For those people this is a matter of life and death.

The drugs scourge has claimed hundreds of lives in Dundee alone in recent years, with rates so high the city even claimed the unenviable title of Europe’s drugs death capital.

No one is denying progress is being made, that intentions are good and that positive work is being done to help those in need.

But, when people are dying and living lives blighted by substance misuse, the time it takes for significant improvements to manifest themselves is immediately an issue.

Earlier this year the Dundee Drugs Commission said the scale of the problem was greater than first thought and the response to date had not gone far enough, deep enough or fast enough.

That is a call to arms that demands response.

It demands a laser focus and relentless determination to push through the change needed to save lives that might otherwise be lost.

There is no greater prize. And no greater consequence of failure.