Scotland’s leaders accused of having ‘forgotten’ about drugs death crisis

Political leaders appear to have “forgotten Scotland’s drugs death crisis” campaigners claimed, as they published a report calling for changes to be made in treatment services.

The group Favor – Faces And Voices Of Recovery – claimed there is still a “postcode lottery” in terms of treatment for drug users, with referrals to residential rehabilitation centres branded “inconsistent”

It published its report a year after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross carried out a rare joint visit to a community group in Glasgow set up to try to help addicts.

Kenny Trainer, the founder of the Bluevale Community Centre, said that 12 months later little had changed.

Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross visit the Bluevale Community Club in Glasgow

He said: “Scotland’s politicians need to wake up to the reality in our communities, where lives are still being devastated by addiction and progress has been far too slow.”

Figures from National Records of Scotland showed 1,330 people lost their lives to drug misuse in Scotland in 2021, a drop of 1 per cent from the previous year.

Favor Scotland chief executive Annemarie Ward said that “unfortunately, the system remains as broken today as it was a year ago”.

She added: “It looks like the politicians have forgotten about Scotland’s drug death crisis, so we hope our Blueprint to Save Lives will remind them that our communities are still suffering and they still need to act.”

Natalie Logan, chief executive of charity Sisco Recovery, said: “The Favor report tells it like it is. The use of pretend rehab services and the postcode lottery of treatment must be sorted now before more lives are lost.”