A woman whose cousin died as a result of drugs has said decriminalisation proposals put forward by the Scottish Government could “prevent more families from experiencing the heartbreak of losing a loved one”.
Jolene Crawford, whose cousin, Alan, died 15 years ago, said the recent announcement from the Scottish Government that it wanted to decriminalise the possession of drugs for personal use had given her family “hope for the first time”.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has already rejected the move, put forward by Holyrood ministers last month, saying it risked causing “untold damage”.
But Ms Crawford, speaking after new figures showed a record fall in Scottish drugs deaths, said the change could help “break the cycle of drugs and misery”.
The recent support in Scotland for decriminalising drugs gives our family hope for the first time
She spoke out after figures from National Records of Scotland showed there were 1,051 deaths due to drug misuse in Scotland in 2022 – a drop of 279 from the previous year and the lowest total since 2017.
Ms Crawford, a member of the campaign group Anyone’s Child, which is calling for changes to drugs laws, said, however, that Scotland was still the “drugs death capital of Europe”.
Speaking in the wake of the latest figures, she said: “Behind each number is a real person, who once had hopes and dreams – as did my cousin Alan.
“It’s been 15 years since his death and Scotland remains the drug death capital of Europe.
*BREAKING*
— Transform Drug Policy Foundation (@TransformDrugs) August 22, 2023
New Scottish data shows 21% drop in drug related deaths, to 1051
279 less than in 2022, the largest year on year decrease on record
lowest since 2017, but still 5x higher than when records began in 1996, 2.7x UK average, 15x EU averagehttps://t.co/1fSE6VcOO4
1/ pic.twitter.com/fS0pOG8peJ
“The recent support in Scotland for decriminalising drugs gives our family hope for the first time because it would break the cycle of deaths and misery by making drugs a health matter, not a criminal issue.
“Legalising and regulating drugs would take the market out of organised criminal hands, reduce the violence, make our streets safer for everyone and, hopefully, prevent more families from experiencing the heartbreak of losing a loved one.”
Alex Feis-Bryce, the CEO of Transform Drug Policy Foundation, said while the fall in Scotland had been “hugely reassuring” drug deaths numbers were “still far too high”.
He added that “each one of these deaths is an avoidable tragedy” as he called for a “transformative approach to really reduce the deaths”.
Mr Feis-Bryce said: “Westminster must allow Scotland to pilot proven measures like overdose prevention centres where no one dies from overdoses, decriminalising people with drugs for their own use, like in Portugal, and exploring legal regulation of drugs to make the market safer.”
He urged all political parties to “urgently put aside point-scoring and come together to deliver a public health approach”.
However, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole Hamilton said that the “drug deaths crisis is a plague of the SNP’s own making”.
He criticised the Scottish Government for previous cuts to the budget for drugs services and added: “My party has been calling for the decriminalisation of drug misuse for years.
“If the Scottish Government is at last serious about reform in this area, this will take detailed work both here in Scotland and in partnership with colleagues across the UK and beyond.
“To finally turn a corner in this crisis, Scottish Liberal Democrats also want to see the immediate introduction of specialist drugs commissions, safe consumption rooms and greater support for both staff and services.”