Should drug use be decriminalised in Scotland? - your views

"Overnight you'd take away 95 per cent of the crime involved in drugs”

Legalise drugs

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh has called for the decriminalisation of drugs to tackle the 'national emergency'. Do you agree?

Julie Douglas

Absolutely, addiction is a health concern and needs to be treated as such. It’s time we got off our higher moral ground and learned from the approach adopted by other countries. Decriminalisation works.

Sean Lyall

Of course! Overnight you'd take away 95 per cent of the crime involved in drugs being supplied in the country and lower the death rate involved with the crime. The demand for the drugs will never change, that’s the only guarantee. The government could regulate and tax it as well.

Torhild Lisbet Slapgard Dewar

Yes definitely. People who are addicted to drugs need help instead of being criminalised. I know because I have worked with drug users for years and seen how they suffer by becoming social outcasts as well as all their other problems.

Scott McIntosh

Drug use - yes. Drug sales - no. What's the benefit of spending £££ and police/court time on someone who was stopped with a small amount of heroin, for example? Wouldn't it be better to have a drug referral scheme in order to offer help? Time and police/court money could be invested elsewhere. If there is no other associated crime bar the presence of drugs, I don’t believe the current justice process is suitable for those types of situations.

Alex Vair D'Agostino Jackson

Tax it, boost the economy and make the people work for their drugs, like everyone else with their socially acceptable addictions, then everyone wins.

Matthew Maclennan

It has been done in Portugal and instead of criminalising people who are drug users they help them, thus allowing the authorities to go after the dealers who are the real issue. This has dropped drug use overall. People will come and ask for help if they are less likely to be made to feel that they committing crime. Help and education instead of criminalising people.

Iain James Buchan

Yes. If anyone would like to read a considered view I recommend Chris Daw, Justice on Trial. A great read and justifies the conclusion of legalising drugs (within reason) as a way to fix the problem.

Otto Furgurtit

We shouldn’t be criminalising weak people. But drug addiction is a terrible thing, drugs destroys life. Maybe it’s all the judgmental attitudes that go with the addicts and crime that paint a bad picture.

Kris Reid

We've had how many decades of 'The war on drugs' and its only got worse. Decriminalisation is the only way to go. Instead of giving people police records and prison sentences, that money needs to be used on rehabilitation. Decriminalisation doesn't mean drugs can just be bought anywhere, it’s just a shift from the 'war' to rehabilitation and fixing communities instead of making addicts outcasts, which they normally stay. Tme to get with the science and data.

Richard Elam

Yes, the use of drugs in this country will never be eradicated. Instead of devoting resources to criminalising those who have addictions to substances, those resources should be diverted to creating a safe environment where users can use their preferred method of choice to attain their fix.

Quyen Lam

They should decriminalise cannabis, at least where it can be used medicinally.

Craig Ronald

Definitely not. They should also do away with the methadone scheme too. It's clear that isn't working.

Shona Brown

Yes, addiction is an illness, like alcoholism. Decriminalise it and it will cut crime, muggings, shoplifting which are done for money for drugs.

David Grant

If you decriminalise, then so be it. Only stipulation would be that if you commit a crime, you cannot use: "A' wis under the drugs, eh" as an excuse to lessen any punishment.

Paul McVitie

Look at the Netherlands model. Decriminalisation of soft drugs with education of their effects would be a positive start and a boon for the economy. It would also reduce anti-social behaviour and casual drinking.

Terry Lindsey

Drugs destroy lives and causes a lot of pain for families.

Darren McCluskey

It would cut crime instantly by 85 per cent.

Jamie Plimmer

Just tax it and end of problems