Free heroin can ease problems

Sir, - Fair play to The Courier for bringing front-page attention to Dundee’s troubled relationship with drugs.

I don’t have an opposition, in principle, to newspapers using shocking images to shape public discourse.

But bringing attention to an issue is only half of the job. Next, you need to bring attention to the bold solutions that can help address the issue.

As your reporter observes, there is an entire section of Dundee society that revolves around heroin, from addicts to sex workers and house-breakers.

The first priority of public policy must be to undermine the black market in heroin that underpins all of this. The so-called war on drugs has failed to do so.

Shooting galleries are a step in the right direction, but we have to go further.

An increasing number of medical experts are throwing their support behind free heroin on prescription to addicts.

It sounds counter-intuitive, but it has been tried successfully in parts of Europe and North America, and even parts of the UK. Canada began its own heroin prescription programme last year.

It takes customers away from the criminal gangs and it removes the need for addicts to sell sex or steal. It will reduce crime rates immediately, not gradually.

This is the radical, solution that was proposed by the Scottish Socialist Party in the early 2000s and is now winning further support.

If they are serious about solving this issue, Dundee politicians of all stripes should be challenged to support a rollout of prescribed heroin.

Connor Beaton. Dundee SSP branch secretary, 163a Princes Street, Dundee.