Fate of Glasgow rehab facility amid drug-deaths crisis speaks volumes about SNP's failings

This is my latest column, published in today's Scotsman (29th September 2026).

It was obvious we were getting prepared for bad news when media stories started to appear about the dangers of new drug types, particularly synthetic opium like nitazenes. And so it came to pass that, when the annual drug death figures were published a few days later, the news was very bad indeed.

Another 1,133 folk lost their lives to drugs last year. To put that in context, over the same period there were 46 homicides and 160 road deaths. To make matters worse, this terrible year only adds to a decade of disaster which has seen the deaths of more than 11,000 people.

Let’s be clear, nitazenes are deadly, hundreds or even thousands of times more powerful than plant-based opiates. They combine with other drugs like cocaine to make a killing combination even in tiny amounts.

So it’s true that new deadly substances must have had an affect, but it does not explain why our death rates are so much worse than in other parts of the UK and Europe. Drug-taking patterns are not unique to Scotland. Nitazenes are sweeping Europe, so why are we bad?

A comparison with the North-East of England is instructive. Tyneside shares much with parts of Scotland. Post-industrial decline, the same legacy of poverty and substance abuse. And of course the same legislation, the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

It’s the region of England with the worst drug-death rates at 100 in a million but it’s still way better than we are with 191 in a million. Yes that’s right, Scotland is almost twice as bad as the worst region in England and Wales.

So let’s not be deceived by well-placed PR and special pleading. There is no excuse for our appalling record on drug deaths. Our failure to deliver a coherent drug strategy, two decades of stop-go funding, and strategic muddle is the difference. A series of hapless drug ministers have failed to get a grip of the problem, and we have paid a heavy price.

A recent case in Glasgow illustrates the point perfectly. Turning Point Scotland, a well-respected national drug rehabilitation service, came into dispute with their landlords, City Property, which is owned by Glasgow City Council, over the rent for a vital city centre service. Try though they might, Turning Point could not resolve the issue or even get a meeting with the council, so they have been forced to close the facility.

So here we have a well-respected service in a drug hotspot, being forced to close due to an administrative guddle. A classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing. It would be comical if it wasn’t so serious.

Surely this is a problem that could have been speedily resolved by a dynamic parliament and drugs minister. And if they cannot intervene in such matters, what is the point of having them at all?

So as we mourn yet another thousand lives lost, our leaders should look in the mirror and be deeply ashamed. We have no real excuses.