Families’ tears as they tell government: Talk is cheap
CAMPAIGNERS at a memorial yesterday to those who lost their lives to drugs have warned the Scottish Government that ‘talk is cheap’.
Rehab campaigner Annemarie Ward, who is in long-term recovery from addiction, joined others affected by drug deaths at an emotionally charged vigil to demand change.
At the Royal Concert Hall steps in Buchanan Street, Glasgow, dozens of people with experience of the drugs crisis urged the government to act.
Miss Ward and her group Faces And Voices Of Recovery (Favor) UK back Scottish Conservative proposals for a Right to Recovery Bill, enshrining in law the right for Scots to get the drug treatment they request.
Speaking at the event, Miss Ward hit out at a speech made there by minister for drugs policy Angela Constance in which she referenced the Deacon Blue song Dignity and promised to ‘climb the mountain and turn the tide’ of drug deaths, without pledging specific action.
Miss Ward said: ‘I think Angela is doing the rounds. She’s talking to a lot of people and listening to a lot of people, but talk’s cheap. Unless we start to take action, nothing changes.’ She added: ‘Scotland’s drug deaths crisis keeps getting worse... We need a fundamental overhaul of how we handle addiction.’
Miss Constance told the crowd: ‘My focus is on turning fine words into action.’ She added that ‘the ship has been sailing in the wrong direction for 20 years’.
She said: ‘I want to convey to you my utter commitment and what we need is a culture of change and a culture of compassion.’ During the vigil, members of the public were asked to speak of their own experiences of addiction.
Some simply mentioned loved ones who had died but James Docherty, 3 – in long-term recovery from a painkiller addiction – said: ‘It shouldn’t be easier to get into [HMP] Barlinnie than it is to get into a rehab in Glasgow, because that’s the reality.’