Scotland’s drug death crisis isn’t going away
There is a little, cellophane wrapped, yellow box in the bag I take to work. I’ve one in the boot of my car as well. They both contain a single use syringe and a small vial of a drug called Naloxone that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Despite a small year-on-year drop drug death figures published on Tuesday retain Scotland’s invidious title of “Worst in Europe” for drug mortality per capita. I decided to get trained in the use of these kits, because should I encounter someone unresponsive, injecting them with Naloxone could bring them round and save their life. After half an hour with a nurse, I was familiar with the procedure for administering this life-saving substance.
The most reassuring thing to know is that you won’t harm someone if you give them the drug and they aren’t actually in opioid overdose. Aside from its almost miraculous properties in being able to reverse the effect of an overdose, Naloxone won’t affect its recipient in any other way. It is already carried regularly by police and medics but this also makes it an ideal tool to help ordinary people fight the drugs death emergency currently underway in Scotland.
I don’t doubt that Scottish ministers want to turn this emergency around. Every life cut short represents a human tragedy and leaves a bone deep wound in families and communities alike. However while I want the SNP Government to succeed, I do still hold them at least partly responsible for how we got here. In 2015, while she was health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon cut funding to drug and alcohol services by nearly a quarter. That sent many services to the wall and contributed to both an upswing in drug deaths and an HIV outbreak in Greater Glasgow.
While that money has now largely been reinstated, the damage is still being felt at both ends of life’s spectrum. Adults continue to die in near record numbers and research by Scottish Liberal Democrats has revealed that since 2017 over 1500 babies have been born dependent on drugs. Since then we’ve also seen the arrival of synthetic opioids like nitazenes and fentanyl on Scottish shores, each far more deadly and more potent than heroin.
My party is fighting hard to unpick that damage, which is why we made access to drug and alcohol services a major part of our budget negotiations earlier this year, securing support for a new facility for mothers and their babies born addicted to drugs. However that is just the start. To address this crisis, we need to give our addiction services the funding they need to tackle both new and existing challenges and the assurance of multi-year budgets so that they have the confidence to make plans and to recruit the experienced staff they need.
Ultimately I believe we need to roll out a nationwide network of safe consumption rooms and drug checking facilities to every part of Scotland where drug deaths are prevalent. If someone is at risk of overdosing, it is far better that they do it in a medical facility with staff trained in Naloxone use, than a dirty back alleyway. It’s easier to direct them towards treatment and recovery too.
The reality of our drug death crisis keeps me awake at night. It’s not just a case of encouraging people to carry Naloxone kits (although we should be doing that as well), we need to do more on every level.
Alex Cole-Hamilton is Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and MSP for Edinburgh Western