Tackling Drugs in Scotland. Page :1

Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership

Ministerial Introduction
Scotland - like other countries round the world - faces a serious drug problem. The Government are determined to tackle it hard and head-on. Organised crime demands an organised response. Communities under stress need immediate relief from drug dealers, and help with the poor conditions on which drug misuse thrives. People sucked deeply into drug misuse need help to mend their lives, and treatment that works. Steps already in train will challenge the drugs culture. Steps in drugs information and education, community safety and social inclusion, rehabilitation programmes, testing and treatment, cutting prison drug use. A committed drive that will take us nearer the day when fewer young people start and keep taking drugs, the day when drug deaths, drug related crime and drug-borne illness fall. This document sets out Scotland's drugs strategy against the background of the UK drugs White Paper Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain. It builds on the Ministerial Drugs Task Force report of 1994, which attracted broad support, and the steps taken since 1997 to understand and tackle Scotland's drug problems more effectively. Our vision is of a Scotland whose people choose healthy lifestyles free from the harm of drug misuse. The strategy towards achieving that vision is set out in this document. It is underpinned by four key principles:

Inclusion Drug misuse occurs throughout society, but flourishes where individuals and communities feel marginalised from society and life choices are limited as a result of disadvantage. Deprivation is not the sole cause of drug misuse, but it is an important contributor. Tackling Scotland's drug problem has to be integrated with tackling social exclusion.

Partnership Co-ordinated and collective work on drug misuse achieves far more than independent and fragmented activity. The strategy recognises the benefits of partnership and encourages involvement at every level of implementation through suitable mechanisms and unifying action.

Understanding Scotland needs to base its anti-drugs work on well targeted and accurate research and information, which drives policies and programmes.

Accountability This strategy is clear about what results are required, and who should be charged with achieving them through a process of evaluation. The accountability structures are not ends but means to make a strong impact on Scotland's drug problem.

Implementation will require patience and resolve. The goals are long term, like those set out for the UK in Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain. Drugs do not respect national boundaries any more than postcodes, so work in Scotland has to mesh with the other countries of the UK, and international efforts.

The public will judge the success of the strategy from action on the ground, and results in turning round drug-ravaged communities. So action is at the heart of the strategy, with clear objectives and a demanding work programme in the form of action priorities.

Drug Action Teams throughout Scotland will lead and co-ordinate locally. They will report to the Government annually on their progress, as part of a new drive to get measurable results over time in tackling drugs, and make a real impact on communities. Achieving these results will require dynamic, practical and effective partnerships with other agencies.

At the national level, leadership and co-ordination will lie with Scotland's drugs Minister, advised by the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse, which he or she will chair. The Committee will draw in all arms of Government and the drug agencies, helping knit the work of many professions and many programmes together. Existing structures will be strengthened and some new ones built. Links with the Government's wider programme of social reform will be made.

This strategy is about a strong, action-based, working partnership against drug misuse, linking community, local and national work. A partnership with a shared, but focused agenda, where everyone can contribute in their different ways to achieving the required outcomes.

My Ministerial colleagues are fully committed to this strategy. The new Scottish Parliament and Executive will from this summer continue the task of reducing drug misuse in Scotland. They will find to hand steps in this strategy that are widely supported, and have the capacity to deliver.



Sam Galbraith, MP Minister for Health and the Arts