Humza Yousaf has pledged to look at whether more money can be spent on drug treatment services if he becomes the next First Minister.
The health secretary, one of three candidates vying to replace Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader, admitted it was "shameful" how many Scots lose their lives each year to addiction.
In an interview with the Record, Yousaf said he was committed to retaining a dedicated drugs policy minister who reports directly to the First Minister.
The position was created by Sturgeon in 2020 after it was revealed that Scotland once again had the highest number of drugs deaths in Europe per head of population.
Asked if he accepted the Scottish Government had failed to lower the number of drugs deaths, Yousaf said: "I think we've got to be honest and say that we've not done as much as I think society would expect us to do.
"So I think these are complex challenges, but Scotland's drugs death record is a shameful one."
The Record has led the way in calling for the decriminalisation of drugs and a concerted effort in increasing access to rehabilitation and support services.
It comes after years of warnings from charities and addiction experts that too few Scots are able to get the help they need to kick their habits.
Asked what he would do to tackle Scotland's addiction crisis, Yousaf said: "First of all, the position of a minister for drugs policy that reports directly to the First Minister will remain.
"There will be no change in that. I would expect whoever I appoint in that role to report directly to me as the First Minister.
"The second thing I would do is we continue to engage with the UK Government, and if there is a change in government, on the issue of safe consumption rooms, I think they can play a significant role in helping us to reduce drugs deaths.
"Where we have heroin assisted treatment programmes in Glasgow, I would want to see them extended beyond Glasgow.
"Glasgow is the obvious and good place to start. But actually, we should be seeing if we can roll them out further across the country, and also projects like the managed alcohol programme.
"Let's see what we can do to extend that, fund that so it can be extended again, above and beyond Glasgow to other parts of the country."
Asked if a government led by him would improve funding, he said: "We know that commitment is there over the lifetime of the parliament, £50 million pounds a year. I would keep that under very regular review,
"If there is the ability to increase it, and there's a need to increase it, then absolutely we will do that.
"If there's more money we can give to alcohol and drugs in particular, then that's going to be a priority focus for me."
Opposition politicians have regularly accused the Scottish Government for being too slow in responding to the drugs deaths crisis.
Paul Sweeney, a Labour MSP representing Glasgow, said: "The evidence of the past few weeks proves that the so called ‘National Mission’ to reduce drug deaths in Scotland is nothing more than empty rhetoric.
"For three weeks, the candidates to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister have been vocal about their opinions on everything from equal marriage to independence thermometers, but not a word has been said about drug deaths.
"In Scotland, someone dies from an entirely preventable drug related death every six hours.
"The devastation these preventable deaths cause in our communities is incomprehensible, with families shattered and loved ones left to pick up the pieces.
"It should be the number one priority of politicians and policy makers, but sadly that is far from the case.
"It doesn’t come as a surprise to see drug deaths so far down the pecking order of priorities.
"After all this is a party that famously ‘took their eye off the ball’ - a phrase that symbolises the lack of care and attention given to drug deaths, and one that will haunt them for years to come."
Annemarie Ward, chief executive of the Faces & Voices of Recovery (FAVOR) charity, urged whoever becomes the next First Minister to ensure more addiction treatment was provided by the third sector.
She said: "When you approach a service in the third sector in England there is a 50 per cent chance you will be met by someone in recovery.
"Someone who has lived experience of digging themselves out of the hell hole you now find yourself in and desperately seeking help to get out of.
"To be met with someone who knows how to recover is unquantifiable in terms of the leap of faith required to live differently and let go of any dependence."
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