Tory right-to-recovery drug rehabilitation bill has 77% support
A Scottish Tory bill aimed at enshrining the right to access certain drug rehabilitation services has received support from 77 per cent of respondents to a consultation.
The Right to Recovery (Scotland) Bill would see the right enshrined in Scots law, seek to prevent people from being refused treatment, establish a new funding mechanism for frontline services and introduce new national standards and guidance to increase accessibility.
A consultation run by Tory leader Douglas Ross, who initially proposed the bill, closed injanuary,finding150ofthe195 responses were either fully or partially supportive of the bill.
In their response, homeless charity Cyrenians said: “We find it very surprising that there is not already an established legal right to addiction recovery – similar to the legal rights to housing.
“Options for addiction treatments can vary geographically, so the act should ensure that all recovery options are available to all citizens.”
Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said the drug crisis, which claimed the lives of 1,339 Scots in 2020, should “shame the nation”.
“We believe Right to Recovery is a crucial part of the solution and I’m delighted to see the extremely positive response to it from stakeholders, who recognise it’s a common-sense bill drawn up in consultation with experts in the addiction field,” he said.
Annemarie Ward, chief executive of Faces and Voices of Recovery (Favor) UK, helped draft the bill. She said it would bring “much-needed further investment” for drug services.
“This bill brings Scotland’s treatment system and services kicking and screaming out of their inertia and into the light of what’s possible,” she said.
Turningpointscotland,aleadingcharitythatsupportspeople struggling with addiction, said in a submission to the consultation they did not believe the bill presentedthe“only,northebest way” to save lives.
“We do not believe that it is the most effective way to reduce deaths, to prevent harm or to encourage recovery,” said Faye Keogh, the policy and business development officer at the charity.
“Even if this Act was passed and we established the legal right to treatment, work would then still need to be done to make that right a reality.”