Drug users escape with 6,400 ‘minor’ soft touch fines
Fury at punishment ‘let-off’ as death toll is highest ever
SOFT-TOuch justice is fuelling the rise in Scotland’s drug-death rate as users escape with fines, it was warned yesterday.
Recorded Police Warnings (RPWs) were handed to more than 6,000 Scots in 2018-19 for supposedly ‘minor’ drugs offences.
Police chiefs and ministers insist the RPWs – which mean that full criminal records are avoided – are used only for the possession of small amounts of cannabis.
But the figures come after damning data showed the number of drug deaths has reached the highest level ever, meaning Scotland has the highest toll in the Eu.
Thousands of drug-users are let off with fiscal fines of as little as £50 which are given out by prosecutors.
Last night Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘There are a number of things that have to happen to address Scotland’s drugs crisis, not least radically improving rehabilitation services.
‘But the SNP’s soft-touch approach on the dealers and suppliers who ruin lives and communities is only making things worse.
‘A clear message needs to be sent to those targeting vulnerable individuals that, when caught, they will be punished severely.’
Scottish Government figures show the use of RPWs grew quickly after their introduction in January 2016, becoming the most used police disposal in 2016-17 when 19,678 were issued.
In 2018-19, the number of RPWs handed out increased by 27 per cent, to 22,070 from 17,332 in 2017-18.
RPWs were issued in 2018-19 for a wide range of offences, with drug offences accounting for 29 per cent of the total number – around 6,400.
They were first introduced as an ‘upgrade’ to a system known as Formal Adult Warnings (FAWs).
The FAWs were not used for drug offences but were issued for street drinking, being drunk and incapable, urinating in public, shoplifting, assault, breach of the peace and vandalism. Recipients of RPWs avoid prosecution and full criminal records.
In addition, in 2018-19, 3,957 fiscal fines were imposed for drug crimes–financial penalties imposed as an alternative to prosecution, by prosecutors as opposed to police. The fiscal can offer a fiscal fine of between £50 and £300 and can also offer the opportunity to pay compensation without the case having to go to court. This is called a compensation offer, which has a maximum of £5,000.
A combined offer, which contains both a fine and compensation, can also be made.
Scottish Government statistics this week showed more than 1,200 people – at least three a day – died from drugs in 2019, including an average of one a day after taking cocaine. The death rate is now nearly four times greater than the uK as a whole after a rise of 6 per cent in the past year. There were also almost 800 deaths involving so-called legal highs, or New Psychoactive Substances ( NPS), which mimic the effects of substances including cocaine and ecstasy.
Superintendent Barry Blair, of the criminal Justice Services Division at Police Scotland, said RPWs ‘are a tool available to officers to deal with a wide range of low-level offences’.
he said: ‘The scheme allows officers, in appropriate circumstances and on a case-by- case basis, to use their discretion to deal with l ow- l evel offending behaviour on the spot.
‘RPWs significantly shorten the length of time that it can take for the same disposal to be achieved, reduce the volume of f ormal reports in the criminal justice system and give officers the ability to exercise their professional discretion.’