We must end Scotland’s drug death record - Alex Cole-Hamilton

Scotland still has the worst drugs death record in the UK and Europe

We need to stop people dying. They are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mums and dads. Each and every one of them has had their life and potential extinguished far too soon. In every single community you will find grieving families and friends.

Official statistics published on Tuesday show that Scotland is maintaining its position as ‘worst in Europe’ for drug deaths. What’s more, things are getting worse. All told, 1,172 people died from drugs. That’s 12 per cent more than the previous year. It’s also approaching half the number of people who died at the World Trade Centre on 9/11 - that’s how many people are falling victim to this preventable public health emergency every single year in Scotland alone.

Those numbers are devastating, and when put in these terms, you’d think the Scottish Government would move heaven and earth to bring them down. But this year, the SNP Government responded to this crisis with a real-terms cut to the money they allocate to funding drug and alcohol services. It has echoesof the mistake made in in 2015/16 when the Sturgeon administration cut funding for drug and alcohol services by 22 per cent, sending services to the wall and arguably turbo charging the problem we now face.

The arrival of synthetic opioids like Nitazines and Fentanyl on our shores, drugs which are in some cases 50 times stronger than heroin and can be obtained online, will see these numbers skyrocket if we don’t get to grips with this now.

So, what should the Scottish Government be doing about it? Well for a start they need to restore and protect drug service funding. They also need to do more to build awareness about the dangers of synthetic opioids and train more members of the general public to administer lifesaving interventions like Naloxone, if they encounter someone who has had an overdose. It’s also vital that we rollout a network of drug testing and safer consumption facilities across Scotland – centres that are proven to be able to keep people safe, offer support in the event of an overdose and also represent an opportunity to funnel people towards treatment.

Finally, I’ve said it before, we need the UK Government to recognise that is a particular problem here in Scotland. It’s why I am open to devolving specific powers around the Misuse of Drugs Act where it is clear that doing so can help stop people dying. I really hope that the new Labour Government will take that seriously and work in partnership with the Scottish Government to tailor solutions because the current policy failure in this area is measured out in human lives. We need to radically rethink our response to this awful crisis.

I was determined to offer solutions when I first stepped into Parliament eight years ago, for the sake of those gripped by drug misuse, for the families who have lost so much already and for those who fear every day for the life of a loved one. Sometimes it feels like wading through bureaucratic treacle when the challenge couldn’t be clearer or any more urgent. We need to stop people dying.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​