Drugs Misuse

Speech delivered on Thu 6th Sep 2007

I am delighted that the first debate of this term to which I am contributing is on the important issue of drugs misuse. I thank Kenny MacAskill for bringing the issue to the chamber. There are a number of topics that I want to address today, but I will enter into the consensual spirit of this period in Scottish politics for a moment and say that I welcome those parts of the SNP motion in which ministers commit themselves to promoting recovery from addiction, ensuring that children are protected and improving drug education.

Although the Scottish Liberal Democrats fully support tough enforcement of the law against drug dealers, we must consider the recent comments of Tom Wood, the chair of the Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams, who said:

"We have lost the war on drugs. We must re-focus resources on education and deterrence."

The role of enforcement should be to tackle class A drugs and to seize the assets of drug dealers. Users need help and support to get off drugs. If the SNP focuses on those two issues, I will be more than happy to support it.

The facts about drugs are clear. Margaret Smith, Annabel Goldie and others have already made this point, but I have no hesitation in making it again: in 2006 there were 421 drug-related deaths. There are now 21,000 people on methadone, and 160,000 children in Scotland live with drink or drug-dependent parents. Duncan McNeil made the extremely good point that those are the children we know about. Another member pointed out that drug use is an issue throughout society. Has anyone done research into those children who live in middle and upper-class families in which the drug that is misused is cocaine? I am pleased that the minister is to give more support to families and children.

Dr Simpson: The answer to the member's question about whether research has been done in this area is yes. The estimated number of children who are associated with drug-using families is more than 50,000-some would say 60,000. The number of children who are associated with families in which alcohol is a problem is 70,000-some would say 100,000. Between 100,000 and 150,000 children are affected, which is the equivalent of three birth years.

Mike Pringle: I take Richard Simpson's point and, like others, bow to his knowledge of the area, which is greater than mine.

Trish Godman was absolutely right to make the point that antisocial behaviour is almost always the result of misuse of mainly drink, but also drugs. In Edinburgh, the way forward has been seen through action on alcohol and drugs, a partnership of the key bodies in the city that deal with different aspects of alcohol and drugs misuse. The partnership performs a key role in allocating funding to agencies offering treatment and rehabilitation in the area of drug and alcohol misuse. It is a great scheme that seeks to ensure that there are no gaps or overlaps in the services that people with substance misuse problems receive. Funding of such schemes needs to be increased. For every £1 that is spent on treatment, £3 is saved on enforcement