scotland’s drug problem

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Report of a c onferenc e o rganised bythe Roya l Soc iety o f Ed inburghTuesday 27 May 2003

Sc otland s Drug

Problem


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SCOTLANDS DRUG PROBLEM

ORGANISING COMMITTEE

Professor John Beck, FRSEProg ramm e Co nvenor, The Roya l Soc iety Ed inburgh

Professor Robert Kendall CBE FRSE

Honorary Professor of Psyc hiatry, University of Ed inburgh,Former Chief Med ica l Offic er, The Sc ot tish Office.

Sad ly Professor Kenda ll passed awa y in Dec em ber 2002.The Roya l Soc iety o f Ed inburgh would like to exp ress the ir dee p ly fe lt

g ra titude to Profe ssor Kend a ll who w as the ma in insp ira tion a nd d rivingforc e b ehind this eve nt

Professor Neil McKeganeyDirector, Centre for Drug Misuse Research,

University of Glasgow

SPONSORS

The Roya l Soc iety o f Ed inburgh wo uld like to tha nk the follow ingpeo p le a nd o rga nisa tions :

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


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A ROYAL SOCIETYOF EDINBURGH CONFERENCE. 27 MAY 2003

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 3

THE SCOTTISH SCENE ............................................................................ 5

Mr Hugh Henry MSP

Dep uty Ministe r for Justic e, Sc ott ish Exec utive

Professor Neil McKeganey

Direc tor, Ce ntre fo r Drug Misuse Resea rch, Glasgow

What kinds of drugs are being used? What kinds of people are using

them? What damage is this causing? How widespread is the problem

and is it growing?

A CHOICEOF EVILS: POLICY OPTIONSINTHE ILLICIT DRUG MARKET ................ 6

Professor Alan MaynardUnive rsity of York

THE DUTCH EXPERIMENT ........................................................................ 7

Mr Robert Keizer

Hea d o f Add ict ion Policy Division, Dutc h Ministry of Hea lth and

Welfare.The 1970s Dutch legislation enabling the establishment of cannabis

cafes and the subsequent consequences, good and ill, of this.

AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVEON DRUGS POLICY ..................................... 8

Dr Peter ReuterProfessor of Criminology and Crimina l Justic e, University of Maryland

USA

What an evidence based national drugs policy might look like.

THE ROLEOFTHE POLICE ....................................................................... 9

Mr Richard Brunstrom

Chief C onsta b le, North Wa les Police

The drug debate; time for change.

THE EUROPEAN SCENE ......................................................................... 10

Mr Richard Hartnoll

Europ ea n Drug Co nsultantThe Prevalence of and trends in drug abuse in different Europeancountries and how the UK compares with these.

DEMONISING DRUGS THE ATTITUDEOFTHE MEDIA .................................... 11

Dr Magnus Linkla te r FRSE

CONCLUSION ................................................................................... 12

THE ROYAL SOCIETYOF EDINBURGH ........................................................ 13

CONTENTS


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It has become inescapably clear to us

that the eradication of drug use is not

achievable and not therefore either a

realistic or sensible goal of public policy.

Rep ort of the Indep endent Inquiry into the Misuse o f

Drugs Ac t, estab lished by the Police Founda tion and

c ha ired by Visc ountess Runc iman 2000.


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Modern soc iety is engaged inwha t is often seen as be ing a wa raga inst illega l drugs. It is a wa rtha t has c rea ted ma ny casualties.Drugs c an d estroy the lives ofthose w ho ta ke them, theydeva sta te c om munities whe red rug ta king is rife, they c rea te a

wa ve o f c rime ac ross the c ountryand a re a d ra in on pub lic servic esand on the pub lic purse.

It is a lso a wa r tha t som e b elievec an neve r be won. Peop le whota ke this view believe tha tc hange is essent ia l to he lpminimise the misery caused by

INTRODUCTION

d rug ta king . But w ha t sort ofc hang e is needed ? Does theanswer lie in grea te r libera lisa tionof illeg a l drugs? What e videnc eexists of effe c tive inte rventions?What o bstac les lie in the pa th ofprogress?

The Roya l Soc iety of Ed inburghbrought toge ther a g roup o fexperts from the UK and oversea sto e xamine how be st to respo ndto the drug p rob lem a nd toident ify the best w ay forwa rd . Thisrep ort summa rises the ma inpresenta tions and the c onc lusionsof the Conference.


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The Deputy Minister for Justice at theScottish Executive, Mr Hugh Henry MSP,ope ned the Conference b y welco m-ing the delega tes, pa rtic ula rly tho sefrom othe r pa rts of the UK and abroa d .

The Minister p rovided an overview ofd rug s polic y in Sc ot land . He explainedtha t it is designed to reduc e thea mount o f drugs ava ilab le o n thestree ts throug h a rang e o f enforce -me nt a c tivities, whilst a lso w orking toreduc e the de mand for them.

How eve r, he emp hasised tha t a p olic ybased solely on limiting the sup p ly ofd rugs will not solve the p rob lem.Dema nd is be ing ta c kled byed uc a ting a nd informing youngpe op le a bo ut the dang ers of drugs(eg throug h the Know the Sc oreca mpa ign) to p revent them ta king upthe ha bit, helping c om munitiesaffec ted b y the imp ac t of drugs, andproviding trea tment and reha bilitationfor those a lrea d y ad dicte d . Heid entified the tw enty two loc ally-based Drug Ac tion Tea ms in Sc ot landas a key eleme nt in the p olic y. This isthe w ay forwa rd ha ving a suite o fna tiona l stra teg ic ob jec tives tha tinc orporate loc a l pa rtnership deliveryme c hanisms. We have c onsiderab lesco pe to d esign a nd implementsolutions in Sc ot land and , as anExec utive, we c ontinue to b e o pe n tonew idea s.

Mr Henry sa id tha t t rea tment wo rks. Foreve ry 1 spent on trea tment, ove r 3 issaved in othe r a rea s suc h a s in thec ourts or the hea lth servic e. Sc ot landha s bee n imp roving the servic es itoffe rs to d rug users, sup ported , TheDep uty Ministe r sa id , by rec ord leve lsof investme nt b y the Exec utive, but hea c c ep ted that, in ma ny area s, wa itingtime s for trea tment a nd reha bilita tiona re still una c c ep ta b ly long . He sa id hewa s interested in new d eve lop ments

elsew here, suc h a s the lega l

THE SCOTTISH SCENE

p resc rip tion of heroin. Althoug h theExec utive ha s no c urren t p lans tointrod uc e this in Sc ot land , we shouldnot rule o ut a trea tment w hic h mightimp rove the he alth and reha b ilita tionof a sma ll minority o f p a tients forwho m all other ap proac hes hadfa iled , Mr Henry sa id. The Exec utive iskeep ing in touc h w ith p rog ress with thep ilot sc hem es south of the b orde r.

Amo ng the ob stac les to p rog ress a rethe strong o p inions wh ich a re he ld

ab out d rugs po lic y by m emb ers of thepub lic , the me dia, those eng ag ed inthe d rugs field a nd by politic ians.Insta nt solutions a re ofte n p ut fo rwa rdthat a re unworkab le. Med ia c overagec an b e sensa tiona list a nd unba l-anc ed . Simp le solutions will not wo rk,sa id Mr Henry. A one -size-fits-a ll po lic ywill just d rive us to fa ilure. We ne ed torec og nise tha t w e w ork in a veryd iffic ult, c om p lex environme nt. Thep rob lem s which Sc otland is fac ing a reno d ifferent tha n in ma ny othernations , and he hop ed that thedelega tes wo uld sha re e xpe rienc ea nd expe rtise, b oth within the UK andinternationally.

In a question session a fte r hisp resenta tion, Mr Henry wa s askedabout the a ttitude o f the Sc ottishExec utive to othe r deve lop me nts suc has sa fe injec ting roo ms. Mr Henry sa idtha t the Exec utive is willing to look a t

ap proac hes which a re b ac ked byrob ust resea rc h a nd suc c ess, bu t thereis c urrently a lac k of evidenc e tosupport the bene fits of injec ting room s.

Figures on the extent of illegal drug usein Sc otland we re p resente d b yProfessor Neil McKeganey, Director of

the Centre for Drug Misuse Research atthe University of Glasgow. Recentresea rc h ha s esta b lished tha t the re a rea round 56,000 he ro in users in Sc otlandwhic h, is c onsid erab ly higher than thep revious best estima te of 30,000. The re


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The c hoice s fac ing p olic y makerswere e xam ined by Professor AlanMaynard of the University of York. Hesa id they rep resented c hoice sbe twe en d ifferent evils: in effec t thec ontinuation of c urrent p olic ies whichhave c reated a huge c rime p roblem

and muc h a ttend a nt misery, or a

A CHOICEOF EVILS: POLICY OPTIONSINTHE ILLICIT DRUG MARKET

are mo re tha n 300 drug-related d ea thsa year. Professor Mc Keg aney stressedtha t it is imp orta nt to see this inperspec tive. The impression oftengiven b y the me d ia is tha t eve ryone in

Sc ot land is ta king illega l drugs a ll thetime a nd suc h attitudes c a n lea d todefe a tism. The rea lity is tha t prob lemdrug use rem a ins c onfined to arela tively sma ll proportion o f thepop ula tion of a round 1-2%. In add ition,drug use is a lwa ys c hang ing and c anred uc e as we ll as inc rea se. Ca nnab isuse a mo ng p eop le in Sc otland fellfrom 8.2% in 1996 to 5.5% in 2000 andsimilar red uc tions ha ve oc c urred withma ny other drugs, with the exc ep tionof he roin.

Heroin rem a ins the b iggest p rob lem inSc otland , while use of c oc a ine andc rac k co c a ine is inc rea sing . Crime isthe ma in mea ns of ob taining m oneyfor drugs. A survey of p eo p le a rrestedfor a va riety of o ffenc es in Sc ot landfound tha t 80% had used illeg a l d rugsand nea rly a third had used heroin.There a re a lso he a lth and soc ia lc onseq uenc es. There a re high rates of

hep a titis C infec tion among d rug usersin Sc otland and be twe en 40,000 and58,000 c hild ren a re g row ing up inhomes where one or more parents isaddicted.

Pub lic a ttitudes a re a lso c hanging.Finding s from the Sc ot tish Soc ialAttitud es surveye d show tha t supportfor the leg a lisa tion o f c annab is hasinc rea sed from 15% in 1983 to 37% in2001. The re is g rea te r sup port for drugusers to be g iven help , with 62% of

pe op le supp orting the supp ly of c lea ninjec ting eq uip me nt, 47% who believeyoung p eop le should be told to used rugs mo re sa fely and 25% whosupp ort doc tors be ing a b le to

p resc ribe to a dd icts. There is a lsostrong public supp ort for toug h a c tionaga inst p eo p le w ho sell d rugs and 70%believe users shou ld be p rosec uted ford ea ling c anna b is, 91% for de a lingec sta sy and 96% for heroin. ProfessorMc Keg ane y said pe op le who live inc om munities a ffec ted by drugs havethe ir own a nswers. Resea rch inLana rkshire w hic h a sked peo p le w ha tthey wanted do ne found that theresponse w as kill the junkies. He sa idsuch views are unc omfo rtab le b ut ha dto b e listene d t o. They c ame fromp eo ple w ho d id not think that e xistingservic es we re respond ing to thep rob lem s tha t d rugs we re c ausing intheir neighb ourhood .

Professor McKeganey listed the drugpolic ies four ma in aims of to he lpthose a dd ic ted to d rugs; to reduc e thenumb er of peo ple sta rting to used rugs; to p unish tho se p rofiting from

drugs and to p rotec t those w hose livesa re b eing ruined by d rugs. It is ea sy todeliver on som e o f these, but d iffic ultto d eliver on all four. We have tomo ve forwa rd w ith an e qua l emp hasison a ll four o f the se. We swingunhelpfully b etw een the p olarity oftrea tment a nd the p olarity of c riminaljustic e. I think at the mo me nt w e a re ina po sition w here w e ha ve und er-emphasised certain of these priorities.

mo ve to grea ter liberalisa tion andreg ulation which m ay reduc e c rimebut c rea te a larger health problem.

He q uestioned why so m uc h pub licmo ney, at tention a nd effort is c urrentlyde voted to a drug p roblem which

c onstitutes suc h a sma ll hea lth threa t.The 500 d rug-relate d dea ths a yea r


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a re d wa rfed by the 100,000 d ea thscaused by smoking cigarettes and the5,000-25,000 rela ted to a lco ho l use.The m ain threa t a t the mom ent isp osed b y c riminal ac tivity, but

liberalisa tion wo uld ta ke the ma rket ind rugs out of the hand s of c rimina ls. Itc ould result in a sta te mo nop oly inheroin and produce tax revenues forthe Trea sury, lea d ing to bet tertrea tment services. The risk is tha t suc han a pp roa c h ma y increase the use ofsubstances that are currently illegal.How ever, any suc h mo ves in thisd irec tion ma y be c onstrained b yUnited Nat ions trea ties wh ic h b indindividua l c ountries to restric tivepolic ies favoured by the United Sta tes.

The key issue highlighted by ProfessorMa ynard wa s that wha tever dec isionsare taken, they have to be ba sed onevidenc e. He desc ribed his presenta -tion a s a ta le o f frustrat ion due tothe lac k of eva luation c arried out intothe effectiveness of drug strategies. We do not know w hat w orks, yet w ea re c onsta ntly c hanging o ur polic y. Ina ll our soc iet ies, we a re pouring

money in. The politic ians w ill tell us it iswo rking b ut they neve r eva luate . Ourevidenc e b ase is very poo r and

growing very slowly. Every reform is asoc ia l expe riment on the c om munitieswe are trying to he lp.

The prob lem is very simp le why is it

we know so little, why is it we c on tinueto adhere to these p olic ies? Why arewe not prepared to be more scientificin eva luating w hat w e a re d oing? It istime to stop squand ering ta xpayersmoney on untested sc heme s ba sedon hop e rather than evide nce .

Professor Maynard said the peoplewho are b ene fiting from our currentignorance are the drug dealers, whoare ma king fortunes out of the m iseryof o thers. The lac k of know led ge

ab out w hat is effec tive d oes nothingto improve the help that c an b e g ivento addicts and their families.

He end ed b y sa ying tha t po litic ia nslike to innova te b ut the ir innova tiontend s to b e the a do ption of untestedpo lic ies in a n a ttemp t to be seen tobe do ing some thing a bo ut apa rtic ula r problem. He then q uoted aline from the pop ular televisionc om ed y series Yes Minister: Ministe rs

need activity. It is their substitute forachievement.

Robert Keizer, Senior Drug PolicyAdvisor of the Dutch Ministry of Health,sa id tha t the Netherland s ha s

c onc lude d that a c hieving a drugs-freesoc iety is no t a rea listic op tion.Conseq uently, polic y is d irec ted a tp reve nting ha rm to users, those a roundthem and the w id er soc iety. It isfoc used on restric ting de ma nd throug hc a re and p reve ntion, restric ting supp lythroug h tac kling o rga nised c rime andrestric ting d rug relate d nuisanc e.

Tha t has resulted in significa ntliberalisa tion o f d rug use in the

Netherlands, da ting bac k to the 1970s.

Although c annab is use rema instechnically illegal, coffee shops whichsell the d rug in qua ntities of up to 5g

pe r da y per client a re not p rosec uted .This polic y has bee n introd uc ed toprevent peop le having to buyc annab is from d rug d ea lers andc oming into co ntac t with mored ange rous d rugs. In a dd ition, theNethe rland s ha s an e xtensiveprogramm e of ha rm red uc tion, ba sedon me thad one p rog ram mes, need leexcha nges, sa fe injec ting roo ms,c ounselling a nd med ic a l help.

Mr Keizer sa id tha t d rug use in theNethe rland s today is no t signific antly

THE DUTCH EXPERIMENT


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Dr Peter Reuter, Professor of Public

Policy and Criminology at theUniversity of Maryland, examined thed iversity of d rug p olic ies adop ted byadvanc ed we stern co untries. There a relibe ra l polic ies in the Nethe rla nd s andAustra lia , heroin m a intena nc e in

Switzerland and the dec rimina lisa tionof possession of drugs in Italy, Portugaland Spa in, among st othe r c ountries.On the other hand , the U.S a ndSwed en rema in d ed ica ted to toughuse of c rimina l sanc tions aga inst d ruguse as we ll as aga inst sma ll-sc a letrafficking. However, there is noc orrelation b etw een rates of drug useand na tiona l po lic ies. There is a lsod isc onte nt w ith p olic ies tha t a re ha rsh,intrusive, e xp ensive a nd inhuma ne, b ut

grea t resista nc e in som e c ountries,

AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVEON DRUGS POLICY

d ifferent from surround ing c ountries, inspite of the fac t that c a nnab is hasbee n free ly ava ilab le fo r sa le for 30yea rs. There a re betwee n 25,000 to40,000 d rug add ic ts in the Nethe rla nd s

and the numb er has be en stab le for 10yea rs. There a re 2.6 d rug add ic ts per1000 pop ulation in the Nethe rland s,c om pared with 6.7 in the UK, 4.3 inFranc e, 4.7 in Swed en and 7.8 in Italy.Morta lity is low, w ith around 80 d rug -relate d dea ths a yea r. Up to 80% ofad d ic ts are in co ntac t with the healthsystem and the ir averag e a ge is 41-42.There a re ha rd ly any young p eo p le inthis g roup of p rob lem users.

How ever, the re are p rob lems. The useof c ertain drugs, pa rticularly c oc a ine, isinc rea sing, the hea lth o f olde r d rugadd ic ts is d ete riorating a nd nuisanc ec ontinues to b e c aused by d rug use.There is a lso c onc ern about theNetherlands being a c entre for thep rod uc tion a nd d istribution o f drugsand c ontinuing internationa l c riticism

of its liberal drug policies. Mr Keizersa id these p rob lems a re a ll beingadd ressed in va rious ways. Soc ialhoste ls, new forms of c linics andexpe riments with forcible treatment

have a ll be en introd uced to red ucethe nuisanc e surround ing d rug use. Thenumb er of coffee shop s has a lso b eenred uc ed b y 25% sinc e 1997 and newlimits introd uc ed on the a mo unt theyc an sell, which is dow n from 30g to 5g .

In c onc lusion, he said the c anna bispolic y in the Nethe rlands had not ledto a n inc rea se in hard d rug use. Ha rmred uc tion also pays off in helping tored uce d rugrelated mortality and

mo rb id ity. A go od drugs polic y mustbe c onsistent, wo rkab le a ndund ersta ndab le, he sa id . It mustc onsist o f an interplay b etw eenp rac tic e, sc ienc e a nd p olitic s. At themo ment, politic s a re d om ina ting thed rugs deb a te . The on ly solution is tha tprac tic e a nd sc ienc e m ust c ontributemore to d evelop wo rkab le p olic ymodels.

pa rticu larly the United Sta tes, toexperime nta tion. Countries a re tryingto learn from ea c h other, but thelessons that a re d rawn from expe ri-ence elsewhere are usually extremelycrude.

Dr Reuter used the experienc e in

Switzerland with heroin p resc ription asan exam p le. The Swiss responded to agrowing heroin problem b y creating ano c rime zone in Zurich, w here sma lla mo unts of a ny illic it drug c ould b ebo ught a nd sold without fear ofp rosec ution. This led eve ntua lly to apolitic a l dec ision to expe rime nt withhe ro in presc ript ion. The t rial wa sd eem ed by Switzerland to b e asucc ess and heroin maintenanc e w asintrod uce d for ad dicts who m eet

c erta in c rite ria . They c an self-injec t up


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to three times a d ay in a d oc torssurgery and the re is no limit o n thedose t hey c an rec eive. Dr Reute rquestioned whe ther this wa s me d ic a lprac tic e rathe r than soc ial c ontrol

de signed to reduc e the nuisanc e o fd rug use.

It has ma nag ed to keep p eop le intrea tme nt a nd ha s ha d a surp risingad ditiona l effect. Most of the pe op lewho ha ve left the program me ha vego ne on to other forms of trea tment,either methad one ma intenance orabstinenc e. Dr Reute r questioned whype op le w ho ha d e asy ac c ess to a ll theheroin they co uld ever want w ould

end up leaving such a programme .This is a pop ulation tha t ha s spent a llthe ir adult lives in pursuit of hero in.Once they are g iven what they have

a lwa ys wa nted , they find it d oe s notmake them hap py and they areforc ed to c onfront othe r aspe c ts ofthe ir lives. Providing the m w ith hero inma y, in fac t, be the most effec tive wa y

of ge tting them to do some thing a bo uttheir d rug ha b it.

The Inte rna tiona l Narco tics Co ntrolBoard have cond emned w hat hasbee n d one in Switzerland , but t rials ofheroin p resc rip tion a re no w running inthe Netherla nds a nd G erma ny and a rebeing c onsidered elsew here.How eve r, Dr Reute r added tha t it do esnot follow tha t suc c ess in one c ountryc an be replic a ted in anothe r. There

a re d ifficulties in d rawing c onc lusionsba sed o n national experienc e andmuc h mo re e valuation is need ed ifc ountries a re to lea rn from theexpe rienc e o f othe rs.

Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable

of North Wales Police, presented anargument for rad ica l change thatwould ta ke drugs out o f the ha nds ofc riminals a nd red uc e the ap pa llingsoc ial c onseq uenc es of c urrent d ruguse. He sa id he wa nted to see apo lic y b ased on p rinciple, not onexped iency, and ca lled for betterlea dership from politicians.

He d esc ribed c urrent leg isla tion as illog ic a l, unethic a l, co unter-produc tive a nd untena ble. It has

ma nag ed to c rea te a n 8 billion ayea r trade in illeg a l drugs in the UK,with a ll this mo ney g oing into thepoc kets of c rimina ls. The g lob a l tradein drugs is estima ted to be w orth $400b illion, wh ic h is mo re t ha n the tota lworldwide trade in petroleum. Almosthalf of all crime in the UK is drugs-related and the c ost to soc iety hasb ee n p ut a t 18.8 billion - 850 a ye a rfor every househo ld in Eng land andWales. Althoug h d rug seizures ha ve

increased, 90% of drugs still get

throug h. This is a c ast iron, roc k solidsoc ial sec urity system for orga nisedc riminals. This c anno t b e a sensiblepolic y, a rgue d Chief Constab leBrunstrom.

The c hoice is betw een c ontinuing withthe internat iona l reg ime of p rosc rip tionor reg ula ting the supp ly and use o fd rugs. I think the e videnc e isincrea sing ly strong tha t p rosc ription willnot and c a nnot wo rk. I believe it is asterile p olic y. We ha ve g ot to ta ke thec riminality out of this and foc us on t he

soc ia l ca uses, sa id Chief Consta b leBrunstrom. Tob ac c o is a mo reda ngerous and ad dictive drug a nd wehave managed to reduce tobac code pe nde ncy over t ime. We ma y beab le to do t he same with these illic itsubsta nc es. He c a lled for d rug usersto b e treated as vic tims ra ther thanc riminals and for them to be giventrea tme nt ra ther than imp risonm ent.

Heroin p resc ription is sup ported by the

Assoc iation o f Chief Police Officers andChief C onstab le Brunstrom desc ribed it

THE ROLEOFTHE POLICE


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Figures p resented by Richard Hartnoll,a European Drugs Consultant, showconsiderable diversity in rates ofp reva lenc e a c ross Europ e, bu t there isno c lea r relationship b etw ee n po lic yinitia tives and p reva lenc e leve ls.Prevalence is high in some countrieswith liberal po lic ies and low in o thersand the same is true for co untries tha ttake a harder anti-drugs ap proac h. When you m ap polic ies with leve ls ofuse you a re left w ith a ra the r a rb itra ry

pa tte rn, sa id Mr Ha rtno ll. I rea llyc anno t find any c onsistent p atte rn ofpo lic y affec ting d rug use.

How ever, pa tterns do em erge whe nd ifferenc es within co untries ra the r tha nbetwe en c ountries a re stud ied . Then itbec om es c lea r tha t d rug use is morec om mon in urba n rathe r than ruralarea s and among p a rtic ular group s ofpeop le. Unma rried ma les under 25with no c hild ren a re 80% mo re likely to

have taken c anna bis than m arriedme n w ith c hild ren. He sa id there a revery c lea r de mog rap hic trend s thatc an explain inc rea sed d rug use.Amsterda m, for instanc e, ha s a highproportion o f single p eo ple w ith high

THE EUROPEAN SCENE

d isposable inco mes who p rovide area dy ma rket fo r d rugs. These trendstog ethe r with othe r fac tors suc h a sge og rap hic al loc ation of d rug supp lyroutes, exp la in mo re a bout d rug useprevalenc e than a ny pol icy o rintervention, ad ded Mr Ha rtno ll.

Last yea r up to 20 million peo p le inEurop e used an illeg a l drug, but 5%

of these p eop le a c c ounted fo r 90% ofthe hea lth c osts. This sub -group of

p rob lem injec to rs is a lso likely to ha vebeen responsib le for most o f the d rugrelated crime.

Mr Ha rtnoll sa id it is a waste of time todeve lop polic ies to try to reduc eprevalenc e. Where they ca n have a neffec t is in red uc ing the a dversec onseq uenc es of d rug use. Tha t hasbe en bo rne out b y ac tion taken in theUK in the 1980s, when d rug users weresupp lied with c lea n nee d les in a n

a ttem p t to p revent the spread o f HIV.That p olic y has p roved to b e e ffec tiveand the UK ha s the low est rate of HIV-infec ted d rug users in Europ e, d esp itehaving som e o f the highest rates ofd rug use.

as an absolute must to he lp stem thetida l wa ve of c rime a ffecting o urc om munities. He a lso sa id tha t polic ieshave to be log ic a l. Solvents kill morepe op le than e c stasy but ca n be

bo ught ove r the c ounte r. Equa lly, hesa id the risk from ta king ec sta sy isminima l c omp ared w ith that ofa lc oho l whic h is wide ly ava ila b le.

Chief Consta b le Brunstrom c a lled for a

mature deb ate to be c onducted inBrita in about d rug s polic y. The re is nod oub t tha t the re is a signific antground swe ll of op inion tha t b elievesthe c urrent p olic y is untenab le.

Politic ians need enc ourag eme nt a ndsupport. They nee d peo p le like us tosta nd up a nd b e c ounted . I think thereis a rea d iness in our soc iety to ha ve ama ture deb a te o n this issue.


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11

The m ed ia ha s p layed a c entral role in

dem onising d rugs and d rug users, sa idMagnus Linklater, one of Scotlands

leading journalists and a former ed itorof The Scotsman newspaper. Thebroad sheet p ap ers and the midd lema rket ta bloids have ma d e d rugs themidd le c lass sc are sto ry of o ur time , hesa id . The c umula tive e ffec t o f this kindof c overag e ha s ma de it harder tota c kle the d rugs p rob lem a t its roo ts.Peop le who a dvoc ate treatme ntra the r tha n punishme nt a re see n bysec tions of the med ia as enc ourag ingd rug use a nd undermining soc iety.

It w as no t a lwa ys like this. Mr Linkla te rreflec ted on his time a t The Scotsmanwhe n the pa pe r supp orted the l ibe rala nd p rag ma tic po lic y of supp lyingc lea n injec ting e quipme nt to drugusers to stem the spread of HIV.How ever sinc e the n, more and moreEng lish-ba sed newspapers ha veintrod uc ed Sc ot tish ed itions, b ringing

with them a d ifferent set o f po litic a lview s and a muc h more c ritica l sta nc e

DEMONISING DRUGS THE ATTITUDEOFTHE MEDIA

on m any issues. The me d ia is influentia l

in sha p ing polic y la rge ly be c ausepo litic ians wa nt to ha ve the me dia o nthe ir side .

Mr Linkla ter sa id tha t trea tme nt a teve ry leve l is the righ t app roa c h andta c kling t he p rob lem of d rugs a lsome ans ta c kling de p riva tion. Suc c esswill not b e a c hieve d ea sily or quicklyand t ha t is a ha rd m essage for bothpo litic ians and the m ed ia to g rasp. We in the med ia te nd to de al in

simp lic ities so, I th ink, do Ministe rs. There a re grounds for op timism,how ever. Comp lex messag es ab outdrugs ca n be ac cep ted b y the p ublicif they a re c learly sta ted and if Ministe rsunite b ehind them . It req uires qua litiesof c larity and lea d ership. The m ed iad oe s not like running b ehind pub licop inion and if po liticians a re c lea rab out the p olic y they wa nt to follow the media ma y beco me not theenem y of drug c ontrol but the

prota gon ists of it.


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12

The c onfe renc e exp ressed c lea rd issa tisfac tion with a nd frustration a tthe c urren t p osition, whic h ha s leftsoc iety p aying a hea vy pric e for itsdec ision to dec la re c ertain substanc esto b e illeg a l. It lea ves too ma ny drugusers without he lp or support, crea teshavoc in our co mm unities, dra insresources and powers a crime wavetha t p rofits on ly the c rimina ls who ha vec aused it. There a re p ow erfula rgume nts in favour of c onsidering

som e a lternatives. But w ha t a lterna-tives? There a ppea rs to be norelationship b etw ee n polic y interven-tions and preva lenc e. There is a c learneed for more evaluation to ga therfirm evidenc e a bo ut wha t wo rks.

What should be do ne in the me an-time? Chief Constable Brunstrombelieve s Brita in ma y be rea dy to ha vea m ature d eb ate o n what i t should d oabout drugs. Professor McKeganey, inhis summ ing up of the d ays proc ee d -

ings, ec hoe d tha t view. He a lso sa idthere nee ds to be a greater willingne ssto experiment. The importanc e oftrea tme nt wa s em phasised throug houtthe c onferenc e, b ut ProfessorMc Keg ane y said tha t has to m ea nmo re tha n methadone . It shouldinc lude a tria l in Sc otland of he roinp resc rip tion a nd other initiatives suc has the esta b lishme nt o f sa fe injec tingrooms. He said recovery from drugadd ict ion is no t imp ossible. There is a

wa y out of d rug a dd ic tion. We m ust d oal l we c an to he lp p eop le f ind thatwa y out.

Tha t ma y a lso b e t rue fo r soc iety atla rge . The c onferenc e w as c lea r thatthere m ust be a be tter wa y than theone w e ha ve a t the mo ment. The b estc hoic e for the future ma y be g rea terreg ula tion. We ne ed our po liticians tobe brave enough to e xam ine theop tions. Tha t c an sta rt w ith a n op enand honest deb ate.

CONCLUSION

This report reflects opinions expressed by participants in a specific event. It doesnot, however, necessarily represent the views of the RSE Council, nor the Societys

Fellowship.


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A ROYAL SOCIETYOF EDINBURGH SYMPOSIUM. 27 MAY 2003

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH

A who lly inde pe nde nt, non p arty-politic a l bod y with cha rita b le sta tus,The Roya l Soc iety o f Ed inburgh (RSE) isa know led ge resource for the peo ple

of Sc ot land . As Sc otland s Nationa lAc adem y, the RSE organisesc onferences and lec tures for the

spec ia list and the g ene ra l pub lic ,p roviding a forum for informed d eb a te

on issues of na tional a nd internationa limportance.

One of Sc otland s foremo st think-tanks,the Soc iety draws up on the e xpertiseof its multid isc iplina ry fe llowship ofmen a nd w omen of international

stand ing, to p rovide inde pe nde nt,expe rt ad vic e to key dec ision m aking

If you wo uld like further informa tion

about the wo rk of the RSE or onhold ing an e vent a t the RSE p lea se

c onta c t the Events tea m at:The Roya l Soc iety o f Ed inburgh,22 26 Ge orge Stree t,Edinburgh,

EH2 2PQ

Telep ho ne : 0131 240 5000

Fa x : 0131 240 5024

Website : ww w.roya lsoc ed .org .uk

Sc ott ish Charity No : SC000470

bo dies, including Gove rnment andParlia me nt. In pa rtne rship w ith othe rkey b od ies, the Soc iety is wo rking tohelp promote the social, economic

and c ultura l wellb eing of Sc otland .

Esta b lished in 1783 und er a Roya l

Charter for the a dva nce ment oflea rning and useful knowled ge , the

Soc ietys wide-rang ing remit inc lud esthe orga nisa tion of free , ed uca tiona lac tivities for young p eo ple a nd the

pub lic a tion o f internationa llyrec og nised lea rned journals.Prom oting links betw ee n ac adem iaand industry, the RSE awards resea rch

fe llow ships, med a ls and p rizes, inrec og nition o f outsta nd ing sc holarship.


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Sc ot land s Drug Prob lem

The Roya l Soc iety o f Ed inburgh

ISBN 0902198 73 4

Ma y 2003

Printed by Alphagraphics

9c South Gyle Cresc ent , Ed inburgh

scotland’s drug problem

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