S1M-3051 Drug Misuse in North-East Scotland

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Mr George Reid): The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S1M-3051, in the name of Richard Lochhead, on drug misuse in north-east Scotland.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament notes with concern that drug misuse in the north east of Scotland has increased dramatically in recent years, with an estimated 50% rise in problem drug users in Grampian alone between 1997 and 2000; further notes that Dundee has the second highest and Aberdeen the third highest level of drug misuse in Scotland and that Grampian has the highest percentage of injecting drug users in Scotland, and considers that the Scottish Executive should recognise the scale of the problem and investigate the level and nature of resources that have been applied to addressing this growing social problem in the north east region, paying particular attention to (a) the role and accountability of the various agencies involved, (b) the amount of resources dedicated to drug users, (c) the cost to society in terms of loss of life, associated health problems and distress caused to users' families and (d) the enormous amount of drug-related crime inflicted on the local community, reflected by the fact that 80% of inmates at HM Prison Aberdeen test positive for drug use at reception.

17:10
... ... ...
17:47

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): ... ... ...

Is it not ironic that we debated the alternatives to custody earlier this afternoon? During the debate, we heard about diversion from prosecution. However, given the fact that we are told that 80 per cent of the offences in this area arise from drug offences, what we are looking for is diversion from offending. Anything that we can do and any ideas that we can pick up in that regard are to be welcomed.

I have always thought that there are three traditional Rs in the criminal justice system, just as there are in education. However, the three Rs in the criminal justice system are retribution, restitution and rehabilitation and the greatest of those is rehabilitation. It is in that area that the north-east is perhaps most lacking.

My colleague Richard Lochhead spoke about the lengthy waits for non-urgent referrals in the north-east. In essence, people have to wait for over a year. I want to pick up on a point that Keith Raffan made and enter a note of caution. He suggested that it was advantageous to send offenders to another area for rehabilitation. I am not at all certain about that, although we should be prepared to experiment.

A local addict from my constituency was sent to the south of England for rehabilitation because the nearest available programme was located there.

As it happens, his entry to the programme was delayed by a couple of weeks and, footloose in a foreign community with insufficient funds, he committed another crime.

Mr Raffan: Will the member give way?

Stewart Stevenson: I do not have time to do so.

That addict is now back in prison.

However, I do not have a fixed mind on the issue and neither should the minister. We should simply be cautious in our approach.

One of the issues that we should address is resources. For every £303 that Scotland as a whole gets for each addict, the north-east receives £242. Over the past four years, there has been a per capita increase in funding in this area of 77 per cent, while the increase across Scotland has been 90 per cent.

Of late, some suggestions about how to deal with addicts have been made. For example, it has been suggested that we return to general practitioner prescribing, which is what my father did in the 1950s. Alas, I think that the world has changed: there are now many more addicts, and they have descended into chaotic lifestyles. However, I am prepared to consider the suggestion.

I am very reluctant to consider re-categorising—and essentially decriminalising—drugs if it means that addicts remain in contact with the criminal underworld. We will simply create an escalator from soft drugs such as cannabis to hard drugs. The only proposal that I would consider in this respect relates back to the Gothenburg experiment with alcohol in the 19th century, in which communities set up pubs to ensure that the profits from the sale of the drug alcohol were used for community purposes. If someone discovered a way of doing that with drugs, I might reluctantly be persuaded to change my position.

In the previous debate, the minister referred to experimenting, testing and measuring. Let us try everything. For example, we should not rule out harm reduction versus abstinence measures or supporting independent agencies as well as those connected to the Government and local authorities. Let us keep all our options open.

17:51