Brian Whittle MSP has launched a stinging broadside at the SNP as a record number of drug deaths were recorded in Scotland for the seventh year in a row.
Across Scotland 1339 people lost their lives to drugs in 2020 including 106 across Ayrshire & Arran. Now Brian is urging the SNP to back Scottish Conservative proposals for a Right to Recovery Bill to give anyone in Scotland who needs drug treatment the legal right to access it.
South Scotland MSP Brian, is challenging the SNP to show greater ambition in how they address the wider causes of addiction and give greater support to community initiatives and charities working to prevent addiction.
The Scottish Conservative MSP also expressed his frustration at the SNP’s fixation on so-called “fix rooms” to reduce drug deaths, arguing the SNP were more interested in making excuses than doing the hard work required.
Brian Whittle MSP said “The SNP’s mediocre efforts to save more lives and reduce drug deaths are nothing short of an abject failure.
These statistics are a damning indictment of how ineffective the SNP have been in dealing with Scotland’s drug death crisis. Nicola Sturgeon’s party has been in power for 14 years and instead of the situation improving, we’ve had seven back to back years of record breaking numbers of deaths.
Even now they’d rather try and spin these stats away and pick constitutional fights with Westminster over fix rooms than get serious and use the powers that Scotland has.
The Scottish Conservatives’ Right to Recovery Bill has been backed by several leading organisations who work every day to help people dealing with addiction, and the SNP still aren’t interested.
Speaking to these organisations and many others working across Scotland, it’s obvious that they’re desperate to do more to help those with addiction and prevent more lives being lost to drugs, but they aren’t getting the support they need from this Scottish Government.
It’s time to give those seeking treatment for addiction the support they need, when they need it, and properly fund the charities and community organisations who are working to turn the tide."
