Macaskill didn’t want to fight SNP over drug decriminalisation

Former Justice Secretary Kenny Macaskill has said he believed in decriminalising illegal drugs while in office but that it “wasn’t worth the fight” with his SNP and Scottish government colleagues.

In a BBC Scotland interview, Mr Macaskill described the war on drugs as “pointless” and said Scotland should move towards “dealing with as a health problem”.

Mr Macaskill said: “We face a significant problem. Drugs is Scotland is moving from Trainspotting 1 to Trainspotting 2 – it’s moving from cocaine and heroin to socalled legal highs.

“We have a Trainspotting generation who have been taking drugs for 25 years and whose bodies are wracked. It would be better to allow them to take drugs for their own safety rather than buy off the streets with the criminality involved.”

Last December, Mr Macaskill called for a major rethink of drugs legislation as well as the devolution of drugs powers from Westminster to Holyrood.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, he said he held the same view while in office, adding: “I’ve always thought the war on drugs is pointless and is harming. My experience in office confirmed it. I can think of senior police officers who thought exactly the same as me.

“What I thought to do was temper the position. I’m bound by party policy and by the wider desires of government.

“It wasn’t worth the fight – there were bigger fish to fry. As soon as I was out of office, I felt the ability to speak out about it.”