Nicola Sturgeon’s war on drugs deaths has descended into chaos after two key advisers quit, blaming pressure from SNP ministers.
Catriona Matheson, an expert in substance misuse, and Neil Richardson, a former deputy chief constable, resigned from their roles leading a task force set up to help reverse a trend which has seen Scotland become Europe’s drug deaths capital.
They claimed a “demand for speed” from SNP ministers could backfire and suggested that rushing through far-reaching reforms without proper evidence could be unsafe.
The First Minister, who has previously admitted her government “took our eye off the ball” as drug deaths spiralled, has said addressing the situation would be her “national mission”.
However, Claire Baker, Scottish Labour’s drugs policy spokesman, said the resignations exposed a “catastrophic breakdown in relationships between the Scottish government and the taskforce they appointed”.
Last year, a record 1,339 drugs fatalities were recorded in Scotland – the seventh year in a row in which the figure rose under the SNP. Scotland’s death rate is more than three and a half times higher than in the rest of the UK and is by far the highest in Europe.
The Drugs Deaths Task Force, which Prof Matheson and Mr Richardson led, was set up in 2019 with a remit to recommend new policies to address the crisis. However, in a joint resignation letter they warned that “rushing the final stages of this programme… jeopardises its success”.
They had been ordered by Angela Constance, Ms Sturgeon’s drugs minister, to produce a blueprint for urgent reform by the summer. However, they said actions should only be taken after enough evidence had been gathered to ensure that reforms were “safe and effective”.
The SNP has proposed setting up “fix rooms” where drug users could take illegal substances under supervision, and has effectively decriminalised drug possession.
Ms Constance thanked Prof Matheson and Mr Richardson for their “hard work and commitment as chair and vice chair of the Drug Deaths Task Force”.
She said: “The work of the task force is not done, and I will now speak to the other members and decide how we can best continue their valuable work. It is vital that we accelerate our existing work, and our focus on delivery and implementation.”
