Chamber and committees

In the interest of being complete, I state that I was a councillor at the City of Edinburgh Council, but I ceased to be a councillor at the recent election.

The committee must now produce a report on the draft regulations. Is the committee content to delegate to the deputy convener and me the responsibility to agree that report on behalf of the committee?

Members indicated agreement.

I thank the minister and her officials for their attendance.

There will be a short suspension to allow a change of witnesses before we move on to the next agenda item.

Bob Doris, you indicated that you have a short supplementary question.

Thank you very much.

I thank everyone for their time today. It has been a great session—my first one as convener, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

The public part of today’s meeting is now at an end. We will consider the final agenda item in private.

As a follow-up, would it be possible for colleges and industry to collaborate on some sort of day-release scheme in which the experts working in the field could come and teach the young people? I do not want to put any solutions into your mouth.

Personally, I think that it is an absolute shame that people continue to die from drug-related causes in Scotland. I repeat that it is an absolute shame.

The Scottish Conservatives believe that a different approach is needed to help people who suffer from addictions. The SNP Government must listen to front-line experts and back our proposed right to recovery bill, which would guarantee treatment for those most in need. The key principle that underlies our proposed bill is to ensure that everybody who seeks treatment for addiction to drugs and/or alcohol can access the treatment that they require. Individuals must not be refused treatment from drug and alcohol addiction services.

Angela Constance said that she would give our proposed right to recovery bill proper consideration to see whether it will do what is claimed. She has confirmed that she backs the principle that people who suffer from addiction should have a right to treatment and that our proposed bill will be given a fair and sympathetic hearing. That shift in language from the minister is welcome.

The consultation on our proposed bill showed that more than 77 per cent of respondents backed plans to guarantee treatment for those suffering with addiction. The bill was drafted alongside front-line experts, who are overwhelmingly positive about the plans. We all know that no single measure can help to tackle the scandal of Scotland’s drug deaths, but a guarantee of being able to access treatment can signal a new approach in that fight.

Annemarie Ward from the charity Faces & Voices of Recovery UK—FAVOR UK—who helped to draft the bill alongside the party, has also welcomed Angela Constance’s change of direction towards the proposed legislation. FAVOR Scotland said it had been told privately by some SNP MSPs that they will support the bill.

We have services that are currently inflexible. Addiction and mental health are constantly changing, and services need to adapt to that. Our services need to adapt to the individuals; the individuals should not be adapting to the services.

Stigma has rightly been mentioned. Many people are ashamed to admit to their issues and to seek the help that they require. We believe that our proposed right to recovery bill will help with that issue, as it will provide everyone with a statutory right to addiction and recovery treatment services.

In September 2021, the Lord Advocate announced that class A drug users could be let off with a recorded police warning. The SNP’s effective decriminalisation of class A drugs will mean that thousands get away with drug use. It is estimated that, of the 30,469 crimes of drug possession recorded in 2019-20, 7,000 were for possession of class A drugs.

No, I am carrying on for the moment, thank you.

Disappointingly, the SNP Government has refused to sign up to a UK Government scheme to tackle drug dealing and organised crime. Project ADDER—addiction, diversion, disruption, enforcement and recovery—is a UK-wide initiative with £150 million of investment in England and Wales that is designed to tackle addiction and the supply of illegal substances. Project ADDER helps people with their addictions and assists them access recovery, but it also takes a hard-line stance in targeting the criminality associated with drug gangs.

The UK policing minister called the SNP’s decision not to sign up to the scheme “deeply ... alarming and distressing”. Scotland’s drug deaths are a national crisis, yet the SNP refuses to engage with such schemes. Surely, it should try anything, especially schemes such as Project ADDER, where there is evidence of their being effective.

We know that the Drug Deaths Taskforce recommended safe drug consumption rooms and that the SNP Government says that it is moving forward with plans to establish such rooms. However, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said that “stronger evidence” is needed before he could support drug consumption rooms.

The Scottish Conservatives will not oppose the use of drug consumption rooms, but we have serious reservations about their operation. As Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said, we need to proceed with caution. Therefore, although we will not oppose a pilot, if that is the route the Scottish Government is to take, we need to see more evidence on their use.

Drug consumption rooms are not a silver bullet; they will not solve all our problems. However, unlike the SNP Government, we will consider all options to tackle the crisis.

I am looking for leadership and pragmatism from the SNP Government. I would hope that our approach is reciprocated and that the Scottish Government also takes that approach by accepting Project ADDER and our game-changing proposed right to recovery bill. The final bill proposal, which was developed with the help of those with lived experience, was lodged by Douglas Ross yesterday.

Our bill will save lives. It will provide a statutory right to addiction and recovery treatment services, including, but not exclusively, residential rehabilitation. Now that it has successfully passed through the consultation stage, it is time for the SNP Government to throw its weight behind it, so that we can tackle this national scandal once and for all.

Under the Scottish National Party, drug-related deaths have spiralled out of control. It is clear that the SNP’s current strategies to help people who are struggling with addiction have failed. There was a record number of deaths in 2020 and the death rate is 3.5 times that of the rest of the UK. It is also higher than in any European country.

That scandal is Scotland’s national shame. It goes without saying that every death brought about by the misuse of drugs is a tragedy, not only for the victim but for their family and friends. We cannot go on like this. Lives are being lost and families are being torn apart.