Drugs

Services helping women affected by drugs and preventing substance use by young people are to benefit from more than £2 million funding. Minister for drugs policy Maree Todd announced the support during a statement to the Scottish Parliament on the National Records of Scotland latest statistics

Scotland remains the drug death capital of Europe despite the fact the number of deaths caused by drug misuse fell by 13 per cent to 1,017 last year – the lowest level registered since 2017. According to statistics published by National Records of Scotland today, there were 155 fewer deaths in

The University of Stirling has developed guidance to help health and social care providers design and deliver nature-based programmes for people with poor mental health and substance dependence. Experts in substance use at the university have created how-to guidance manuals for nature-based programm

Heroin users in Edinburgh could soon have access to a legal “fix room” under plans for the capital’s first safer drug consumption facility. Sites in the Cowgate and Spittal Street, at the foot of Edinburgh Castle, are the frontrunners to host the service, where up to nine people at

A London-based minibus driver convicted of being involved in transporting cannabis to Glasgow for supply has lost an appeal against his conviction in the High Court of Justiciary after the court found the sheriff had not failed to address the jury on what the appellant knew about what he was transpo

Peter Krykant, the harm reduction campaigner who paved the way for the establishment of the UK's first safer drug consumption facility, has suddenly died at the age of 48. Mr Krykant made headlines around the world when he refitted a van – and later an old ambulance – into a mobile "over

The UK government has said it will not amend the law to make it easier to establish safe drug consumption facilities, even if Glasgow’s new pilot site proves successful. The Thistle in Glasgow, which opened earlier this year, is the first such centre in the UK and is intended to address Scotla

An inquiry has been launched by Holyrood's Criminal Justice Committee into tackling harms caused by substance misuse in Scottish prisons. The inquiry is split into three parts and will consider the impact of substances, including drugs and alcohol, in Scotland’s prisons. The first part will lo

Suspected drug deaths fell by 11 per cent last year, new figures from Police Scotland show. The single force recorded 1,065 suspected drug deaths throughout the year, 132 fewer than in 2023.

Charity Crimestoppers Scotland has launched a campaign to help tackle the increase in synthetic opioid drug importation, manufacture and violence associated with the trade. Synthetic opioids are man-made drugs that mimic the effects of natural opioids (such as opium or heroin) but can be much more d

The scheduled execution tomorrow of a Malaysian man for drug trafficking offences is a source of great alarm, Amnesty International has said. Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, 37, was convicted of importing 51g of heroin into Singapore, where he was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty in 2017.

An expert in substance use from the University of Stirling is calling for a change in legislation around drug use in the UK. The call from Catriona Matheson, professor in substance use, comes as she prepares to give evidence at an inquiry into the country’s pilot Safer Drug Consumption Facilit

A cultural change and “brave and bold action” are required to tackle a “public health emergency” created by drug use in Scotland, according to a report sent to MSPs by a people’s panel. The panellists’ report recognises that progress has been made, but says that f

The Commons' Scottish Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry examining the pilot Safer Drug Consumption Facility (SDCF) which opened yesterday in Glasgow. The facility, on Hunter Street, is the UK’s first official consumption room for illegal drugs. Known as The Thistle, the facility will e

It would not be in the public interest to prosecute people in possession of illegal drugs at a healthcare facility in Glasgow, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC has said. Her comments come after a request for clarification on the law by the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership and a facility