Free heroin could help Scotland shake off unwanted drugs death title
Researchers headed up by global addiction expert have labelled Scottish opioid deaths shocking.
04:30, 16 MAY 2021
Updated
Free heroin could help Scotland shake off unwanted drugs death title
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Thank you for subscribingWe have more newslettersShow meSee ourprivacy notice The professor behind Dutch addicts getting taxpayer-funded heroin has called on the Scottish Government to do the same in its fight against drugs.
BBC News
Published
image copyrightPA Media
image captionMr FitzPatrick said earlier this week that he would continue doing his job despite calls for him to quit
Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick has lost his job in government after Scotland recorded its highest ever number of drug deaths.
The first minister has appointed Angela Constance as a minister to take charge of the response to the drugs crisis.
She will be a full-time drugs minister, reporting directly to Nicola Sturgeon.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats had been demanding Mr FitzPatrick s resignation and were preparing a vote of no confidence in him.
He added: We could save so many more. “Of course, saving lives is the beginning. We need to offer support and care to those often forgotten about, often using drugs to escape lives filled with trauma. I’m hopeful now more than ever as Nicola Sturgeon has stepped up and appointed a dedicated drugs minister. “With a 100 per cent focus on drug policy, we can quickly change the trajectory of these tragic, preventable deaths. “My heart is hopeful that, with cross-party conversations, organisational work and some specific action taken, 2021 can be different. With 2020 almost gone, those involved in the drug dependency field know it’s been another bad year.”
BBC News
Published
image copyrightPA Media
image captionMr FitzPatrick said earlier this week that he would continue doing his job despite calls for him to quit
Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick has lost his job in government after Scotland recorded its highest ever number of drug deaths.
The first minister has appointed Angela Constance as a minister to take charge of the response to the drugs crisis.
She will be a full-time drugs minister, reporting directly to Nicola Sturgeon.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats had been demanding Mr FitzPatrick s resignation and were preparing a vote of no confidence in him.
BBC News
Published
image captionOpposition parties have called on Joe Fitzpatrick to resign over the record number of drug deaths
A Scottish government minister has said there is no easy path to cutting Scotland s record drug death rate as he rebuffed opposition calls to resign.
Figures published on Tuesday showed that 1,264 people died of drug misuse last year.
This gives Scotland the highest drug death rate in Europe - a level three times higher than England and Wales.
Public Health Minister Joe Fitzpatrick said the problem had been decades in the making .
He said the high number of deaths stem from a long-standing and complex set of challenges and that there really is no shortcut to suddenly solve this .