RISHI Sunak has hit back at the Scottish Government after its Drugs Minister proposed decriminalising drugs for personal use.
The Prime Minister has no plans to change his “tough stance” on drugs, Downing Street said shortly after the Scottish minister made the call.
Asked whether the Prime Minister was likely to grant a request to change drug legislation, his official spokesman said: “No. Whilst I haven’t seen those reports I think I’m confident enough to say that there are no plans to alter our tough stance on drugs.”
The Scottish Government outlined its plans in a new paper on drug law reform released on Friday. Under the proposals, the Government would allow people found in possession of drugs to be treated and supported rather than criminalised and excluded.
The Scottish Government said decriminalisation would also mean that without a criminal record, people in recovery would have a better chance of employment.
The document outlines measures which could be implemented through further devolution, independence, or changes enacted immediately by the UK Government to support the work being done within existing powers to reduce drug deaths.
Other proposals include immediate legislative changes to allow the Scottish Government to fully and properly implement harm reduction measures such as supervised drug consumption facilities.
But the evidence-based report prompted anger from the opposition parties, with Scottish Tory chief Douglas Ross (above) lashing out at the plan.
"This is reckless, dangerous and naive," he said.
"Legalising class-A drugs will not help tackle the SNP's drug death crisis.
"Humza Yousaf should be backing our Right to Recovery Bill to improve services."
Toni Giugliano, the SNP's policy chief, said the Tory war on drugs had failed and if they can't tackle the problem, they should be handing powers over to Holyrood.
He said: "The UK Government is in complete denial - punitive, criminal justice responses to health problems don't work.
"The Tory war on drugs has failed. If they can't offer solutions to tackle the problem they should devolve the power to those in Scotland who can.
"Poverty, childhood adversity, violence and unaddressed trauma lie at the heart of Scotland's drug problem, but you won't hear the Tories talk about the root causes because for years their policies propagated that inequality.
"There's no silver bullet here, we need a range of approaches, preventative and recovery-based, but we won't turn a corner until the UK Government drop their ideological opposition to evidence-based solutions like safe consumption rooms.
"Decriminlisation will help challenge public attitudes that stigmatise users, which only pushes people away from treatment."
Scotland’s Drugs Policy Minister Elena Whitham (above) said: “These are ambitious and radical proposals, grounded in evidence, that will help save lives.
“We want to create a society where problematic drug use is treated as a health, not a criminal matter, reducing stigma and discrimination and enabling the person to recover and contribute positively to society.
“While we know these proposals will spark debate, they are in line with our public health approach and would further our national mission to improve and save lives.
“We are working hard within the powers we have to reduce drug deaths, and while there is more we need to do, our approach is simply at odds with the Westminster legislation we must operate within.”
