Probably the single issue that animated most newly elected MSPs back in 1999 was the drive to tackle Scotland's growing drugs problem. Those not already aware of the problem heard so much about it on election platforms that they knew "something had to be done". But what?

This SCPO Briefing highlights some of the key developments in Scottish strategies to tackle this problem over the past five years.

In March 1999, the Scottish Office published ‘Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership’, which set out how the government was going to play its part in beating drugs. It was set against the background of the UK Drugs White Paper ‘Tackling Drugs To Build A Better Britain’. On 11 May 2000, the Scottish Executive launched, as part of the strategy, a national partnership against drug misuse, with key partners signing up to it - including government and national agencies, Drug Action Teams, the NHS, voluntary sector, police and Scotland’s councils.

The strategy has four pillars: young people, communities, treatment and availability, which the Executive states are not to be single and separate issues to be dealt with in isolation – "they are a set of linked programmes designed to be mutually reinforcing and effective".

The aims of the strategy are to:

·         Help young people resist drug misuse in order to reach their full potential in society.

·         Protect communities from drug-related anti-social and criminal behaviour.

·         Enable people to receive treatment for drugs problems and live healthy and crime free lives.

·         Stifle the availability of illegal drugs on our streets.

In August 1999, the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee decided to conduct an Inquiry into the links between drug misuse and social deprivation because they "recognised that drug misuse is one of the most serious problems affecting Scotland today and had the impression, which was subsequently confirmed, that deprived communities, with poor housing, poor amenities and high levels of unemployment were the most seriously affected areas".

The Committee published their report in December 2000. Their inquiry found that "the problem has been increasing over the past decade across Scotland".

The greatly increased availability of drugs seemed to be a key factor – the most serious drug problems in deprived communities were mainly linked with addiction to heroin. The Committee concluded that methadone was currently (at least in the short to medium term) the best available treatment for many heroin addicts who are unable to come off drugs. However, the Committee had concerns about the provision of methadone, as there were areas where it was virtually impossible for addicts to get access to treatment.

They also felt that the most damaging consequences of drug misuse came from the "incessant need for money" to sustain the habit, leading abusers to commit crimes such as theft, fraud, drug dealing and prostitution.

The Committee was impressed, however, by the range of services and initiatives developed at a community level with the aim of helping people affected by drugs, provided by statutory and voluntary sector organisations, GPs, pharmacies and churches.

The Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency is committed to reducing the impact of the drugs trade in Scotland, and supporting community efforts to wipe out drugs in their areas. It was created as a part of the Scottish Executive's Drugs Action Plan, and launched on 1 June 2000, although not formally established until April 2001. Angus Mackay, on behalf of the Executive, said that: "One of the central plans of our drugs strategy is cutting the availability of drugs in Scotland. We have never before had an Agency solely devoted to that task. That is why we have created the SDEA, and that is why we are committing £10m over 2 years".

There is a detailed link between the aims and objectives of the SDEA and Executive policy documents and it plays an important role in supporting the four pillars of the Executive’s action plan, particularly in stifling the availability of drugs.

Scotland’s first Drug Court was established in Glasgow Sheriff Court in October 2001 and a second pilot Drug Court was established in Fife in August 2002. The aim of the Drug Courts is to reduce drug misuse and associated offending by offering treatment-based options outwith the traditional court setting. The target group for the Drug Court is offenders of both sexes aged 21 or older, where there is an established relationship between a pattern of serious drug misuse and offending, and whose drug misuse is receptive to treatment.

Drug Courts were initially established in the USA in the late 1980s. The Executive accepted the idea of drug courts after a UN report said they were a key step forward in reducing drug-related crime. The report of a Working Group for Piloting a Drug Court in Glasgow concluded in May 2001 that the establishment and operation of a Drug Court in Glasgow was feasible within existing legislation.

The Glasgow and Fife Drug Courts have the same authority and status as other courts, so they have the same range of sentences available to the sheriff court under summary proceedings. Similarly, the range of sentences available to the Drug Courts (including Drug Treatment and Testing Orders) continue to be available to the Sheriff Court.

Researchers at Stirling University found the pilot project, based at Glasgow Sheriff Court, had been welcomed broadly by sheriffs and drug addicts alike. In the first six months, only one treatment order out of 32 had been breached. A number of addicts who appeared before the court were interviewed and all of those who took part in the survey said their drug use had reduced "significantly". Boredom was, however, a common problem and Drug Court clients would welcome more organised structure in their lives.

The ‘Know the Score’ drugs communications strategy was launched on 19 March 2002. Its fundamental aim is to sign-post the public towards quality information and advice about drug misuse across Scotland.

The ‘Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership’ strategy committed the Executive to establishing a drugs misuse communications group to advise on drugs communications. The group reviewed the information and advice available in Scotland and found them patchy and varying in quality. They then carried out research amongst the general public and young people across Scotland, and the drugs communications strategy ‘Know the Score’ is based on these findings.

The ‘Know the Score’ strategy involved:

·         The biggest-ever national public awareness drive, including an advertising campaign, telephone information line and web-site.

·         Local action targeted at specific groups and topics, with local communications strategies to be developed during the course of the year, to ensure that the consistent and comprehensive information needed locally on drugs is available from Stranraer to Shetland.

·         Work with national and local media to explain the facts about drugs to the general public and people who might be tempted to use drugs.

·         All national and local drugs communications should incorporate a single Know the Score brand to encourage the general public, ‘at risk’ groups and drug users to find out more about drugs, how to get advice or assistance and, perhaps, help out in tackling drugs locally.

In January 2004, cannabis was reclassified from a Class B to a Class C drug across the UK by the Home Secretary, David Blunkett. As required by law, he consulted the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for advice on the classification of cannabis. In giving its advice, the Advisory Council was clear that cannabis is a harmful drug and should remain illegal but that - in terms of its toxicity or harmfulness - it is not comparable either with Class A drugs (such as crack, heroin or ecstasy) or with other substances (such as amphetamines) which are in Class B. Accordingly, the Government accepted the Council's recommendation and reclassified cannabis – and all cannabis preparations, including cannabis resin – to Class C.

As part of the new Executive’s Partnership Agreement, the Executive made a commitment to undertake a national review ("not a revamp or an overhaul", said Hugh Henry) of drug treatment and rehabilitation programmes, and to provide additional resources to support these services. This review was announced in the August 2003, with the consultation paper being published in October 2003. The provision of drug treatment and rehabilitation services form part of the Executive’s integrated drugs strategy.

The main aims of the review were to:

·         improve access to, and increase the availability of, both community-based and residential services for drug users who want to come off drugs, in the most appropriate setting.

·         build on current work to reduce waiting times for drug services - to ensure that those with a commitment to coming off drugs find a matched commitment to swift help from well-resourced service providers.

Hugh Henry said that "Our Partnership Agreement commits us to providing additional resources for drug services. But it makes sense to await the outcome of the review before we announce how much and for what. We will only invest in what works and this review will be the foundation for those decisions". The results of the review and subsequent decisions on extra investment in drug treatment and rehabilitation services were supposed to be announced before Christmas 2003. However, by August 2004, no outcome has been published.

8. Drugs & Prison

Hugh Henry told Parliament that "around 70% of cases that come before our courts have a drug-related aspect". Therefore it is unsurprising that the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Andrew McLellan, noted in his 2002-2003 annual report that: "Drug addiction dominates much of prison life and activity", to the extent that in "many prisons the primary activity of health care seems to be dealing with drug addiction".

There are no powers within the Scottish Prison Service to make drug treatment programmes compulsory for drug misusers in prison; they are entered into on a voluntary basis. However, both mandatory and voluntary drug testing takes place in most prisons and results of those tests can help prisoners to progress through the system to greater privileges or move back losing privileges.

Prisoners who are addicted to drugs have the opportunity to be assessed and then to be referred to an appropriate agency either within the prison or outside, although provision of such services varies considerably. A detoxification programme is in place in many of the prisons, as is substitute medication - people addicted to heroin, for example, can be prescribed methadone. Cranstoun Drug Services are under contract to the Scottish Prison Service with responsibilities for conducting prison-based assessments to identify the key needs of individuals and for co-ordinating service provision while the prisoner is in custody.

In 2002, 60% of drug related deaths in Scotland were deaths of people who had recently been released from prison. This is because individuals newly released from prison have a reduced tolerance to drugs and are in danger of overdosing in the high risk days following release from custody. The Executive stated that they wanted to find out what could be done better to help prisoners with drug addictions, to prepare them for release and to aid access to drugs services. In June 2000 the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) launched a revised drugs strategy aimed at, among other things, effectively managing the transition between prison and the community. Transitional Care was introduced by SPS in 2001 to support short-term prisoners (those serving less than four years) and remand prisoners with an identified substance misuse problem. Transitional Care is voluntary on the part of prisoners and interim findings of the scheme in July 2004 showed limited success.

Clearly, a great deal of political thought and energy has been devoted over the past nine years to tackling Scotland’s drug problems; yet most of the disturbing statistics continue to rise (though latest figures show a fall of 17% in drug-related deaths), and many people report increasing problems in their communities.

Does theology have anything useful to bring to this debate? There is plenty scope for reflection on that; but there is surely a Biblical realism (about people, their vulnerabilities and potential) that takes us beyond moral panic. The belief in redemption which provided a context for our contribution to debates on anti-social behaviour also underpins our approach here. That is not the glib easy answer (underestimating the problems with which people are struggling) which the politicians have failed to find. The gospel is about far more than preaching "just say no", and that holistic approach is the basis of the churches’ work in practice. It is from that practice that our most effective contribution will come.