Focus on recovery for Scottish drug addicts

Published on Saturday 24 May 2008 20:17

SCOTLAND'S new drug strategy will focus on helping addicts into recovery rather than treatment programmes.

Community safety minister Fergus Ewing is expected to unveil the Scottish Government's drug abuse plan to Holyrood later this week.

And the key theme will be for treatment services to go beyond harm reduction and to help addicts to become drug-free.

Ewing said that drug users had "the right to the same care and treatment as the rest of us and shouldn't be treated as second class citizens".

He said: "It is essential that people experiencing drug problems have access to a range of wider services including employment, housing and health that help them to move on and rebuild their lives.

"I believe we need to get better at encouraging each service user's separate vision of recovery by reducing practical barriers to services, while giving people hope by acknowledging that recovery is achievable.

"We need to give the many talented and committed people who work to tackle drugs problems, and the millions we invest, a clearer focus and sense of common purpose than we have had in the past."

Ewing added: "People want a new vision. They want us all to raise our aspirations and believe that people who use drugs should recover and move on. Our focus will be on recovery."

But he warned that the "scourge of drugs" would not disappear overnight, adding: "The implementation of our vision for action to tackle drugs will take months and years to achieve."

The minister said the impact of drug abuse "destroys families, damages communities and costs our society millions of pounds".

He also argued that work to improve the economy and tackle problems such as deprivation would also have an impact in the fight against drugs.

Ewing said: "I strongly believe that if we can successfully grow the economy allowing more opportunities in work, enhance children's experiences in their early years, reduce deprivation, and improve our nation's mental health we will have a positive impact on drug misuse."