Chamber and committees

Our strategy for tackling drug misuse is focused on outcomes such as the drug-free life, the crime-free life and a journey back into education, family life or employment. That means offering a wide range of options to those seeking help, tailored to individual needs and circumstance. A variety of approaches which are all effective, when used appropriately, can contribute to recovery – abstinence approaches, residential approaches, detoxification approaches and harm reduction approaches.

Free NHS dental checks will be introduced from 1 April 2006.

Provision of paraphernalia such as clean pipes for users of crack cocaine would require amendment of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. No such amendment is planned at present.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-23124 on 8 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

In 1990, prevalence of hepatitis C among injecting drug users from Lothian and Glasgow aged under 25 was around 70-90%; these injectors would have commenced their injecting prior to the introduction of harm reduction interventions. By the mid-1990s, rates among under 25 year old injecting drug users had decreased to 20-40%. This rate has remained generally constant to 2002. In 1985, the number of new hepatitis B virus diagnoses in injecting drug users was 157, compared to 38 in 2002.

The prevalence of HIV was 0.5% among 2,115 injecting drug users during 2004; this rate compares with prevalence of 1.4% to 3.2% in the early to mid-1990s and 0.5% to 0.8% during the period 1998 to 2003.

It is impossible to separate the different strands of the harm reduction intervention programme, such as needle/syringe exchange and methadone maintenance therapy, in terms of specific effectiveness.

Further information can be obtained from the Health Protection Scotland website at http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/scieh.

This information is not held centrally.

Data on the quantities of illegal drugs seized in Scotland is only available broken down by police force area, not by local authority area.

Figures for the years 1999 to 2003 inclusive are given in the publications listed, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. The tables show the quantity of drugs seized, broken down by police force area and drug type, but no information is available on the street value of the seizures. Figures on seizures made by HM Revenues and Customs (formerly HM Customs and Excise) are also presented, but cannot be broken down to a Scotland level.

Year of Seizures	Publication	Table	Bib. number
1999	Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2001	104	20860
2000	Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2002	E2.2	27706
2001	Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2003	E2.2	32141
2002	Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2004	E2.2	36121
2003	Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2005	D2.2	38474

 

No. It was made clear whenthe public consultation was launched that the route choice which includedMilltimber Brae, was open and that everyone was encouraged to express theirviews.

The technical informationreferred to in making the decision has been published and is available on theproject website:www.awpr.co.uk.

Experience suggests thatdentists moving to private practice will retain some element of NHS work,mainly registration and treatment of children and other patients exempt fromcharges, which attracts some NHS funding and allowances.