Drug Law Reform Report Summary of Recommendations
The Taskforce has written to both Scottish Ministers and UK Government on September 17th 2021 sharing highlights of the Drug Law Reform Report and summarising its 30 recommendations and their timetable for action.
The recommendations referred to are as below:
| Prisons Many people in Scotland’s prisons are repeat offenders and many also have substance use problems | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Further work is needed to ensure holistic support is provided for people with multiple complex needs, including exploring the reintroduction of throughcare support officers. The Taskforce asks that options for sustainably funding a reinstated throughcare service are explored. | Scottish Government and Partners | Medium |
| 2. Scottish Government should work with the Scottish Prison Service to end Friday liberations from custody, implementing a blanket policy of no liberations on a Friday or in advance of a public holiday. It should also explore ways to support individuals released directly from custody. | Scottish Government and Partners | Medium |
| 3. Further exploration of alternatives to remand and imprisonment should be considered, including bail supervision and residential rehabilitation. | Scottish Government and Partners | Medium |
| Pill Presses The production of illicit pills, including a typical benzodiazepines, cause significant harm | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Progress is required to ensure the regulation of pill presses, including a suitable licensing system to reduce related harm. | UK Government | Medium |
| Tolerance Zones Practical policing decisions, such as physical patrols can significantly influence people’s perceptions and decisions about drug use and service engagement. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 5. The possibility of tolerance zones should be explored where police agree not to make active patrols or use stop-and-frisk powers in the vicinity of certain services. | Scottish Government and Partners | Long |
| Recorded Police Warnings The Lord Advocate issues Guidelines to the police in relation to the operation of the scheme and in particular which offences may be considered as eligible for a Recorded Police Warning. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 6. The Drug Deaths Taskforce would support consideration of the extension of Recorded Police Warnings in relation to drug possession offences to cover all classifications of drugs and concludes that there would be value in work by the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and COPFS to increase understanding of the scheme. | Scottish Government and Partners | Short |
| Drug Testing and Treatment Orders People subject to a Drug Testing and Treatment Order may engage relatively well with support but may still test positive for illicit substances. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Scottish Government should review DTTOs to assess how they have been used, their outcomes and whether they are the most effective mechanism to support an individual’s recovery and reduce recidivism rates. | Scottish Government and Partners | Medium |
| 8. Scottish Government should also work with the Judicial Institute to improve understanding of how to best support an individual’s recovery journey. | Scottish Government and Partners | Medium |
| Diversion from Prosecution If successful, diversion avoids a person receiving a criminal sanction, and could provide a route to targeted person-centred support if sufficient resources are made available. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Scottish Government should work with partners to ensure that all people have access to well resourced, high quality services following diversion, taking a multi-disciplinary, holistic approach to support. Increased funding should be provided to support this. | Scottish Government and Partners | Medium |
| 10. Training should be given to ensure that those who work in this area understand the challenges of engagement for people with dependency issues and give individuals multiple opportunities for recovery. | Scottish Government and Partners | Medium |
| Navigators and Peer Support The wider literature points to the significance of peer support in strengthening connections to communities and highlights the importance of human connections. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 11. The Drug Deaths Taskforce will continue to explore the use of navigators and peer support workers and make a recommendation on the best model for a national navigator service. | Scottish Government and Partners | Medium |
| 12. In the interim, the national expansion of the MAV hospital navigator programme should be pursued, taking a particular interest in substance use. | Scottish Government and Partners | Short |
| Safer Drug Consumption Facilities The evidence shows that these facilities are known to prevent overdose deaths, lead to safer drug use practices and promote engagement with wider services. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 13. The Taskforce supports the introduction of safer consumption facilities in Scotland. The UK Government should consider a change to the legislative framework to support their introduction. | UK Government | Medium |
| 14. In the interim, the Scottish Government should explore all options within the existing legal framework to support the delivery of safer consumption facilities. The Scottish Government should also take steps to increase public understanding of such facilities. | Scottish Government and Partners | Short |
| Heroin Assisted Treatment Prescribing heroin is legal and operational in Glasgow but this needs to be expanded. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 15. The Taskforce supports the devolution of licensing for HAT premises to allow the single-office co-ordination of premises and prescriber licensing and the Scottish Government should support and promote a national roll out for HAT. | UK Government/ Scottish Government | Medium |
| Drug Checking Facilities More should be done to make these facilities widely available to those working with people who use drugs and address challenges with accessing licensing for these services. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 16. Licensing of drug checking facilities should be reviewed to ensure that the licensing of drug checking services is open, transparent and accessible, and in line with a health based approach. | UK Government/ Scottish Government | Medium |
| 17. The Scottish Government should support drug testing nationally and work with local services to ensure it is available. | Scottish Government and Partners | Medium |
| Drug Paraphernalia Drug treatment services including Injecting Equipment Provision should be allowed to supply all items necessary for safe injecting and related drugs paraphernalia. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 18. The UK Government should amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 or Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2000 to allow for the legal provision of a wider range of drug paraphernalia through harm reduction and treatment services, to enable safer drug consumption. | UK Government | Medium |
| 19. In the interim, the Scottish Government should explore all options to support this provision. | Scottish Government and Partners | Short |
| Naloxone Scotland has led the way in developing local and national naloxone supply schemes that have made a significant contribution to reducing harm. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 20. The UK Government should support permanent reclassification of naloxone to make it easier to provide supply. | UK Government | Medium |
| 21. In the absence of a full reclassification, the Scottish Government should work closely with the UK Government to ensure that the changes planned reflect the breadth of the existing statement of prosecution policy in Scotland. | Scottish Government and Partners/ UK Government | Medium |
| 22. In the interim, the Scottish Government should also engage with the Lord Advocate in relation to the extension of the current statement of prosecution advice. | Scottish Government and Partners | Short |
| Families Engagement from the family members is welcome and we will continue to learn as its work reflect strongly the direction and ambition of the Taskforce. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Justice partners should support the adoption of the Stigma Strategy, trauma informed and family inclusive practice and the adoption of distress based interventions. | Scottish Government and Partners | Medium |
| Dispensing and Prescription Forms There are concerns over the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 lack of flexibility and the impact on patient care and additional burdens for prescribers. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 24. The Taskforce supports prescribers call for a review of the regulations on dispensing and prescription forms to take account of clinical and technological advances since implementation in 2001. | UK Government | Long |
| Supply Disruption for Controlled Drugs It was highlighted that temporary measures had been introduced to ensure continuity of treatment if supplies are disrupted. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 25. The UK Government should extend the temporary COVID19 measures put in place to support the resilience of medicine supplies and treatment continuity to cover a wide range of public health and other emergencies. | UK Government | Short |
| Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act 2010, in keeping with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, excludes those identified as drug and alcohol ‘addicted’ from the scope of provisions prohibiting discrimination against disabled people. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 26. A transparent review is needed of the exemption set out in S3.1 of the Equality Act 2010, (Disability) Regulations 2010 to explore the impact of this exemption and whether it best serves people suffering from addiction, what the implications of removing it and making addiction a protected characteristic would be. | UK Government | Medium |
| Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is incompatible with a public health response to problematic drug use. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 27. A root and branch review of the Misuse of Drugs Act is needed, taking a public health approach, and reforming the law to support harm reduction measures. | UK Government | Long |
| 28. If the UK Government are not willing to reform the Misuse of Drugs Act, it should commit to exploring all available options openly with the Scottish Government to enable Scotland to take a public health approach. | UK Government/ Scottish Government | Medium |
| 29. Meanwhile the Scottish Government should do more to maximise flexibility under the current legislation. | Scottish Government | Short |
| Further Engagement This engagement exercise is the first phase of two phased Drug Law Reform review. | Lead Organisations | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| 30. Further consultation should be undertaken in the second phase of the engagement exercise, exploring: • The public’s perceptions of drug policy and opinions on what our guiding principles should be when developing policy and legislation. • People’s thoughts on relaxing the laws around drug possession offences, such as decriminalisation or legalisation and regulation. • Gauging public support for the harm reduction measures currently restricted by the Misuse of Drugs Act or related regulations. • User engagement to understand how the law impacts people’s willingness to access services. | Scottish Government | Long |
Our final recommendations
Our final report was broken down into 4 chapters.
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