The status quo is not an option

ALISON THEWLISS

SNP MP for Glasgow Central SCOTLAND faces a public health emergency with drug deaths but the UK Government continues to block plans to take vital action.

The status quo is not an option. People are dying on our streets yet the Tories at Westminster sit on their hands.

I’ve asked UK ministers countless times to come to my constituency and see for themselves the scale of the problem. They’ve refused at every turn.

If the UK Government continues to refuse to act then we need drugs law to be devolved so the Scottish Parliament can take the action necessary.

The UK Government’s approach of simply dismissing drugs as a criminal justice issue is totally flawed.

This only serves to stigmatise those with addictions, rather than the help and support a public health approach would provide.

Today, SNP members have reaffirmed the party’s commitment to supervised overdose prevention facilities – safe injecting rooms – in Scotland.

The weight of evidence in support of these facilities has never been more compelling and it is imperative that action is taken now.

The only barrier to taking real action to tackle this problem is the UK Home Office.

The answer is simple – give the Scottish Government the power to take the vital steps to tackle the drug-related deaths.

The Scottish Government has already appointed a drug deaths task force to look at the best evidence from around the world and consider what changes to the law we need to take in Scotland.

UK Government ministers need to get out from behind their desks in Westminster and come to listen to people in Glasgow as to why drug laws must change.

The Record has done vital work bringing to light the scale of the challenge. The job of both the UK and Scottish Governments is to find a way

to meet it.