Minister for Community Safety
Fergus Ewing
Scottish Parliament
September 6, 2007
Presiding Officer,
It is fitting that the first Government debate of the new Parliamentary year concerns an issue of vital importance to the future of Scotland. If we are to meet our aspirations for a safer and stronger Scotland, our aspirations for a healthier Scotland, it is critical that as a nation we succeed in tackling perhaps the most pernicious social challenge of our time: the misuse of drugs.
When we came into power in May, we said that we were committed to building a new national consensus on tackling drug misuse.
In June we gave effect to an initiative developed by the Labour/Lib Dem administration, based on proposals put forward in this Chamber by the Conservatives, by launching a new online directory of drugs services, which can be accessed at www.scottishdrugservices.com. To date there have been over 23,000 visitors to the site.
In July, following discussions with Annabel Goldie, we announced that we would explore how the most successful features of the well-established and successful Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, could be applied to those who are at an earlier stage in their drug addiction.
Later that month we published, and publicised, 5 reports commissioned by the previous administration, including the findings and recommendations of an expert group which had investigated the use of methadone in Scotland. We made clear then that we agreed strongly with the key conclusions of that group: that methadone has a vital part to play in reducing harm - but that it cannot be the only treatment that people receive. We need at the same time to place a much greater emphasis on promoting recovery.
At the end of July I chaired a meeting of the key experts and practitioners in the field, the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse, who gave me their perspectives on the key challenges facing Scotland.
Now, today, it is the turn of the Parliament to express the concerns of the people and communities of Scotlandon this critical issue. All of us in this Chamber will have had experience in our own constituencies of the devastating effect drugs can have on people's lives: through tragic deaths from drug misuse; through the break-up of families; through the crime which funds the desperate addictions drug misuse can bring.
These personal, local experiences add up to a dismal account. Only last week we learned that the number of drug deaths in Scotlandhad hit a record high - 421 deaths in 2006. Earlier this week we learned that there were over 42,000 drug crimes recorded by the police across Scotland, the second highest figure on record and including a near 50% increase in illegal cultivation of drugs - to say nothing of the crimes of dishonesty which will have been driven by dependency on drugs. Across Scotlandas a whole there are estimated to be around 52,000 problematic drug users. Some 10,000 to 19,000 children in Scotlandlive in households where at least one adult is a problematic drug user.
This is a challenge we can only meet by acting together. If ever there was a case where we need to set party political affiliations and prejudices aside, and do what is best for Scotland, this is it. As a Government, we remain committed to building a consensus on the way forward.
Today I am confirming that the Scottish Government is committed to developing and taking forward a new strategy for tackling drug misuse in Scotland. For the next few months, all our work in this area will be focussed on discussing, designing and delivering a new approach to tackling the damage drugs do to our nation.
It is for everyone in this Chamber to play their part in developing that strategy. This debate today is part of that process.
First, we have already learnt from the reports published this summer that we do not have the full range of services across Scotlandto meet our goal of promoting recovery.
Second, we need treatment and care to be more strongly focussed on recovery; that we need better information about what treatment people are actually getting and what the results of that treatment are; and
third, that we need to improve quality and accountability across the board.
As part of the strategy, therefore, we will set key national outcomes for tackling drug misuse, founded on promoting recovery; we will set out clearly the responsibilities and functions of Government, local service commissioners and managers, and other national and local bodies, and how they are to relate to each other, in pursuing these outcomes; and we will ensure that funding for services is clearly aligned with these outcomes. We will develop this framework in consultation with the field and with our Advisory Committee. We will also engage with our communities and with service users. In short, working together we will make sure that services are robust, focussed and effective.
As all members know, one of the most damaging aspects of drug misuse is its effect on families, and on the children within those families. It is imperative that we tackle the complex problems that children living in substance-misusing households face. This means working with local agencies to improve the identification of children at risk, and address their needs more effectively. A great deal of activity is underway in this area, for example through the implementation of integrated assessment and planning, and training of health visitors and social workers to identify and act on risks. Where it's working we will drive this work forward.
We also want to see a renewed emphasis on prevention and early intervention, supporting young people and families to make positive choices for safe and healthy lifestyles, and intervening to address risks before they become serious. We want to see holistic support for substance-misusers during pregnancy; and we want to strengthen drug education in schools. It is important that everyone involved in the delivery of drugs education to our children, including our teachers, are confident in their ability and have suitable resources appropriate for each age group. We are currently in discussion with Learning Teaching Scotland, NHS Health Scotland and the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency about the type of new approaches that might be effective in delivering drugs, alcohol and tobacco education in a school setting. We also need to maximise the benefit of important and well-established initiatives like Choices for Life, by placing them within this more effective, more broadly based approach to drugs education.
There will be no let up on enforcement. Tackling the supply of all forms of illegal drugs remains an essential part of our strategy. We will be unstinting in our support of the police to disrupt the drug dealing networks and the organised crime groups behind them. We will foster even closer co-operation, joint working and intelligence to produce results. Only recently Strathclyde Police seized £12.5m worth of heroin - drugs no longer on the street as a result of good quality ,intelligence led policing.
I would like at this point to take the opportunity to commend 2 Aviemore police officers [Sergeant Maggie Miller and PC David McAlpine] who recently received commendations for their bravery, a result of which a known drug dealer is now serving 8 years in prison and a large quantity of Class A drugs were kept off our streets. All of this the result of the officers stopping a vehicle on the A9 due to suspicious behaviour. It demonstrates the importance of proactive policing to protect our communities from the scourge of drugs.
We are also making real headway in punishing drug dealers where it hurts - in their pockets.
Finally, as noted above, we need to continue to improve the link between the criminal justice system and treatment for offenders. I believe there is real potential for adapting the current model of DTTOs for example to the needs of young and female offenders, two groups who do not fit with the current criteria for an order. Our review of community disposals will explore this possibility.
First, better service delivery to promote recovery; second, early intervention to protect children; third, drug education that works; fourth, effective enforcement; fifth, more appropriate court disposals: these are some of the key themes which will underpin our new strategy.
And our action on drugs will be embedded in an approach across Government which seeks to tackle the underlying causes of drug misuse.
Shona Robison will be leading a Ministerial Task Force on health inequalities that gives specific actions to be driven forward. And we will offer more of our young people opportunities to do something positive and constructive with their lives. We have already announced a new approach to investing funds recovered under the Proceeds of Crime legislation and we will look to ensure these funds are used to provide activities that build confidence and self esteem among our young people.
Over the coming months I, and my officials, will be taking forward a wide range of discussions across the country. This Monday, for example, Shona Robison and I will be meeting the Chairs of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams, to hear their perspectives on the challenges ahead.
We will put forward our proposals; we will listen to and discuss the proposals and views of others. And around the end of the year we will bring forward a statement of strategy which draws the many strands together, and sets a clear course for the task ahead.
But in taking on the challenges we face, we must remember that there is hope. Thousands of people across Scotlandare working day in day out with those affected by drug misuse, and achieving positive results. During a visit I undertook to South East Alternatives, a Turning Point Scotland project in the Gorbals, I saw at first hand the difference workers there were making to the lives of the people they help. At the same time, they told me how disheartening it can be when the debate around drugs becomes polarised and sterile. So while we must debate and agree the course we need to set, we owe it to those in the front line to support them in their efforts, and to celebrate their successes.
Tomorrow I will be taking the opportunity to thank staff at a project in Kingussie, for the work they do in assisting young people who are at risk of developing drug and alcohol problems. This project is just one of many supported by the Lloyds TSB Foundation for ScotlandPartnership Drugs Initiative. The PDI has done an enormous amount of good work, and I am pleased that £500k additional funding has been made available by the Government this year.
In conclusion, there is success to build on, but we have much to do. I look forward to today's debate, and I am sure it will be a valuable contribution to the task in which we are all engaged.