Treat drug addicts as patients, not criminals, say SNP
Tories attack policy call as deaths soar by 23%
RADICAL plans to decriminalise drugs will be discussed by the SNP this week.
The plans include a wide-ranging overhaul of drugs policy in Scotland which would see addicts treated as patients rather than criminals.
The SNP conference will hear support for a different approach to drugs to ‘remove barriers between police and communities and allow policy to reflect the values of our progressive society’.
But critics ridiculed the SNP’s record on drug misuse, saying funding cuts for services have added to the problem of addiction in Scotland.
Inverclyde MP Ronnie Cowan, one of the motion’s sponsors, believes decriminalising some drugs, removing penalties for personal possession and providing properly resourced treatment and rehabilitation centres could reduce the number of addicts and save the NHS money.
He said: ‘The war on drugs is not working and identifying drug addiction as, first and foremost, a health issue rather than a criminal justice issue is an important step.
‘We should stop labelling people with addiction problems as stoners, smackheads and junkies. While we persecute and punish we create despair and disharmony, people are criminalised and lives are destroyed.’
The conference, which begins on Sunday in Glasgow, will also hear calls for full control over drugs policy to be devolved to the Scottish parliament so that a review can consider issues such as drug classification, decriminalisation, legislation and regulation.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said last year she would back a change in the law to decriminalise cannabis for medicinal use to treat people From Saturday’s Mail with conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
Recent figures showed the number of drug-related deaths in Scotland rose by 23 per cent to 867 last year.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said a £15million cut in funding for alcohol and drug services across Scotland last year had ‘added to the problem’ of addiction.
The Scottish Government has since announced £20million for services this year, but Mr Briggs said: ‘The SNP have made such a mess of alcohol and drugs funding that they should hang their heads in shame. They have made cuts in funding for alcohol and drug support.’
David Liddell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Drugs Forum, said: ‘The evidence suggests decriminalising possession can reduce harm, particularly when it is combined with wider policy changes.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We recognise that drug and substance misuse is firstly a public health issue, transferring responsibility for this from justice to health ministers in 2016.
‘As Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell recently announced, we are refreshing our national drug strategy.
‘The new strategy will be founded on the principle of “Seek, Keep, Treat” in recognition that keeping people engaged with services is one of the most effective ways to stop people dying from substance misuse.
‘This will challenge service providers to adapt their approaches to meet the needs of each drug user.
‘We welcome that we are taking this forward against a backdrop that drug use in Scotland is falling in the adult population and remains low among young people, but we want to go further and the recently announced £20million for alcohol and drugs misuse treatment will help to save more of the lives of some very vulnerable people in our society.’
‘Made a mess of drugs funding’