Drugs and Alcohol

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 30 January 2020.

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Photo of Jenny Marra Jenny Marra Labour

N ot right now. Sorry.

We have 10 recommendations for immediate action from the commission. What exactly are we waiting for? We do not have time to wait, and I will tell members why. Recently, I had a stark reminder of the situation in Dundee, when I heard about a young girl who was taken into care after her dad died of drug use. Unless we take radical action to stabilise the lives of men and women my age who have children, we will have more and more children left without parents in our city and across our country, with all the subsequent trauma and vulnerability in their lives, including vulnerability to addiction, that that brings.

An important debating point, which has also been an important life-saving matter in Dundee, is same-day prescribing. I was interested to hear Shona Robison say that that has been fully implemented. That is not my understanding. I understand that a very small group of people are still part of a test for change. However, the clinically qualified commissioner on the Dundee drugs commission said that that test for change is not necessary, because the clinical evidence for same-day prescribing already exists. Indeed, same-day prescribing happens in Lothian. Therefore, at best, we have a huge and unnecessary delay to implementing that life-saving policy in Dundee.

The involvement of that small group of people allows the Dundee partnership to say that it is making the required changes. However, the Dundee drugs commission said clearly to the minister that the real change will come when faster access is achieved, same-day prescribing is available across the city and GPs are involved. None of that is happening. The change will happen when people who present and are willing to get treatment, can get that treatment in two, three or four days, rather than, as Michelle Ballantyne said, the weeks and months that the majority of people in Dundee must wait.

I take the opportunity today to recognise the work that my colleague Monica Lennon has done on the delays to forensic toxicology reports. She has told us about the heartache to the families. That is the most important point. However, another consequence of those delays is that the police cannot track day-to-day or week-to-week trends in drug consumption on our streets and in our homes, which would allow them to know and prevent what is happening. We must consider that aspect, too.

My remarks have focused on the delay and the continual conversations that are delaying much-needed action. I urge the minister to do a desk assessment on Monday morning of all the recommendations that he has received and just try to get on with some of them. I also call on the minister for more debating time on this topic in the chamber. We have not even scratched the surface when it comes to the issue of drugs, and we have given only a small amount of time to discuss alcohol. We need at least a month to debate the issues, so having a week would be very welcome.