Drugs

An East Ayrshire project is offering same-day support for people seeking help for drug use through an initiative introduced ahead of new treatment standards for Scotland. A total of £4 million was announced in May to fund Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards, which will mean people wh

A new toxicology laboratory for Scotland is to be created to provide state-of-the-art testing capabilities for police and prosecutors. The Scottish government is providing more than £6 million for the new purpose-built centre that will be able to test for a wide range of substances, including

Too many drug addicts are "cycling in and out" of prison without hope of rehabilitation or recovery, according to a UK government review. The Review of drugs part two: prevention, treatment, and recovery, by Dame Carol Black, sets out recommendations for drug treatment and recovery.

Grants worth a total of £1.61 million have been allocated to community-based drugs organisations and support services providing access to treatment and residential rehabilitation. The local support fund – for groups with an annual income of under £1 million – issued 24 awards

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have criticised "pointless drug prosecutions". Speaking at yesterday's Holyrood debate on drug-related deaths, the party's health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton stressed the importance of trauma-informed care when dealing with addiction and its treatment.

New standards for treatment for drug users published by the Drug Deaths Taskforce aim to reinforce a rights-based approach for people who use drugs. They make clear that people must be able to start receiving support on the day that they ask for it and emphasise the importance of allowing people to

Women, families and children are among those who will benefit from separate funds worth a total of £18 million to improve drugs services. Four schemes are planned for May with the funds coming from the additional £250 million announced by the First Minister to tackle the drug deaths emer

More than half a million pounds has been awarded to eight projects working to deliver more support to people living with drug addiction. Each of the eight projects will use their share of the £514,000 of investment to increase staffing levels in their work with people with multiple complex nee

Most drugs are not inherently dangerous when used casually and drug interventions that are punitive and reinforce criminal identity are ineffective, according to a new paper. In a report for the Scottish government that looks at the drugs laws of five countries, it was found that the hierarchy of ha

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh has suggested serious consideration be given to decriminalising drug use in order to resolve the "national emergency" of drug-related deaths in Scotland in a new report. In December 2020, the National Records of Scotland (NRS) reported that the number of

New sentencing guidelines for drugs offences have been introduced in a bid to tackle ethnic and gender disparities. The Sentencing Council has published research showing that the odds of a black offender receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a drug offence are 40 per cent higher than the odd

A number of former police officers are campaigning for the legalisation of drugs in order to stem Scotland's high number of drug deaths, The Times reports. The officers, among them a retired chief inspector, argue that radical reform is needed to punish those who profit from the drug trade and to ad

Prisons should offer free cannabis to drug-dependent prisoners to determine whether it could stem overdose deaths and reduce violence, a police and crime commissioner has said. Arfon Jones, North Wales PCC, said if the authorities seriously wanted to reduce violence in prisons, “they should be

Take-home Naloxone will be given to people at high risk of accidental overdoses in a move designed to reduce the number of drug deaths, the Scottish government has said. This will include those who have been resuscitated by the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) following an accidental overdose. 

A top lawyer has called for drug use to be decriminalised in order to combat Scotland's drug deaths crisis. Iain Smith, of Keegan Smith Defence Solicitors, said removing the criminal element from drug use will help users to be seen as “people who are in pain and in need of help”.