SNP’S DRUGS FREE-FOR-ALL
Nationalists demand power to decriminalise drug taking Move savaged as country’s abuse death toll hits record high
THE SNP yesterday voted in favour of decriminalising all drugs, including heroin and cocaine.
The Nationalists demanded that power over narcotics policy be devolved to Holyrood ‘to allow for decriminalisation of possession and consumption of controlled drugs’.
Delegates at the SNP’s annual conference in Aberdeen unanimously called for the ‘urgent reform’ of the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act ‘so that health services are not prevented from giving treatment to those that need it’.
It came as Nicola Sturgeon gave an interview ahead of her keynote speech to the party conference tomorrow, in which she:
Refused to rule out a hard border between an independent Scotland and England;
Said a general election should take place before any second referendum on Brexit;
Demanded Jeremy Corbyn grant her the power to hold another independence referendum if he becomes Prime Minister.
The move towards decriminalisation comes in the wake of figures showing Scotland has the worst drugs death rate in Europe.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that 1,187
people had died due to drug use in Scotland in 018, a 7 per cent increase on 017 and three times the UK average. It is expected this will rise again when the 019 figures are released.
Edinburgh East MP Tommy Sheppard told delegates Scotland had to ‘stop this cull which is going on in our communities’. He added: ‘I know this will be difficult for many people – but doing nothing is not an option.’
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘The SNP knows that illegal drugs destroy lives and wreck families, so this is a deeply concerning extension of the SNP’s soft-touch justice agenda.
‘Scotland currently has the highest drug death rate in Europe and decriminalisation is not the answer.
‘While the SNP washes their hands of this issue, the Scottish Conservatives will stop the cycle of addiction and help Scots get their lives and their loved ones back.’
Nationalists have called for so-called ‘shooting galleries’ for heroin to be legalised in Scotland – to allow users to take drugs in a ‘safe environment’.
But the idea has been rejected by the UK Government, which would have to devolve powers to the Scottish Government for this to happen. Critics fear shooting galleries will become a magnet for drug-dealers and do nothing to reduce addiction.
In July, a United Nations drugs expert warned against introducing them for heroin addicts after a similar scheme in Canada saw overdose deaths soar.
Dr Ian Oliver, a former Grampian Police chief constable, condemned plans for addicts to inject themselves under medical supervision.
The Scottish Government and drugs campaigners backed moves to set up such premises in Glasgow, although this was ruled unlawful by Lord Advocate James Wolffe, QC.
At conference yesterday, Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss said the 1971 Act had stopped the opening of a drug consumption room in the city.
She said: ‘We need full control of drug laws in Scotland and we need it now. The UK Government’s cavalier attitude towards Scotland’s drugs emergency is simply appalling.’
Delegates unanimously passed a motion labelling the Misuse of Drugs Act ‘not fit for purpose in 1st century Scotland’. An amendment called for drugs legislation to be devolved to allow for decriminalisation of possession and consumption. Anne McLaughlin, the SNP’s Westminster candidate for Glasgow North East, said: ‘Until we are independent, let’s call for the powers to be devolved so we can fully debate how best to tackle our drugs problems in our country.’
FACED with the worst drugs death crisis in Europe, this is a time for SNP ministers to get serious about how they will act to tackle this deadly problem.
It was, therefore, dispiriting that delegates at the SNP’s conference decided yesterday that the solution is the decriminalisation of the possession and consumption of all controlled drugs.
For too long, SNP ministers have been soft on crime. Now it seems the Nationalists want to wave the white flag on drugs too.
This is a problem that requires serious action, not paving the way for another generation of drug users and addicts.
We can only be thankful that the Scottish Government does not currently possess the power to deliver this astonishingly dangerous plan.
However, senior SNP figures yesterday made clear that decriminalising drugs would form part of the new prospectus for breaking up Britain.
The consequences of giving drug users carte blanche to possess and consume hard drugs without fear of police intervention can only be imagined.
This is certainly not the answer to the drugs tragedy that killed almost 1,200 Scots last year.