Goldie calls for First Minister to set up independent review into drugs strategy delivery

The First Minister today stopped short of agreeing to set up an independent review to investigate the progress of the new national drugs strategy, despite a study revealing there has been a 19% increase in methadone prescriptions in the five years between 2004 and 2008 and a minimum of 22,000 people are being prescribed the drug.

Annabel Goldie MSP, Scottish Conservative Leader, who raised the subject at FMQs today, said:

"In Scotland nearly half a million methadone scripts are being given out every year. That figure has soared over the last 5 years. This means, every minute, of every hour, in every day a methadone script is issued in Scotland.

"Methadone can play a role for some addicts on their road to recovery but as reported today, Scottish pharmacists want this number cut. We know many addicts never wanted to go on methadone in the first place and many addicts on it want off. We cannot switch people from an illegal drug and park them on a prescribed one.

"I welcome the First Minister's commitment to putting recovery at the heart of the strategy, and that strategy, to which we both agreed was a watershed in the approach to drugs abuse in Scotland, but a new strategy and a political will are not enough if the change is not being delivered on the ground.

"The simple truth is that every month 1,000 people join the Scottish Drugs Misuse database. Put that with methadone prescription levels and it's clear a sea change in policy two and a half years ago has not become a sea change in practice on the ground.

"The First Minister must set up an independent review to report to this parliament on why ‘The Road to Recovery' for too many addicts is still not a reality. Merely ‘examining the impacts' as he said he would today, is not enough."

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