OPPOSITION WINS CONCESSIONS ON ANTI-DRUGS POLICY

A new Scottish anti-drugs strategy by this summer will see a sharp
move away from dependence on methadone to treat addicts, with more
rehabilitation effort.

It is aimed at more Drug Testing and Treatment Orders (DTTOs) in court
sentences, possibly extending to Children's Panels. Ministers also
want to crack down on drugs in prisons with more testing, but there is
no sign of action on helping the estimated 50,000 children who live
with drug-addicted parents.

The pledges have been made in letters to opposition parties by Fergus
Ewing, minister responsible for drugs policy, as part of the Budget
negotiations which drew to a close with last night's vote.

Conservatives claim victory with a government promise to review the
spending on drugs treatment with an expectation it will rise from next
year, though Labour and LibDems have also been in talks with Mr Ewing.

The initiative represents a significant shift towards a new
cross-party consensus around the handling of Scotland's serious drug
problems.

According to addiction expert Professor Neil McKeganey of Glasgow
University, the political shift is a challenge to those who work in
the field to reduce dependence on methadone, with a switch to
expensive and difficult measures to get people off drugs.

Mr Ewing wrote to Bill Aitken, the Conservative justice spokesman,
promising there will be more emphasis on promoting abstinence and more
residential rehabilitation. Officials are now starting a review of
drugs budgeting , to report by spring next year.

The DTTO plans are with strong provisos that Lothian and Border pilots
will have to prove their effectiveness before they are used in all
courts. Drug test orders for children will form part of a separate
youth justice strategy, also due by summer.

Mr Ewing told LibDem justice spokeswoman Margaret Smith he wants the
strategy to respond to her call for more education to warn against
drugs. She has also secured a promise that a team of drug experts will
advise on the new strategy.

Mr McKeganey said there has to be more done for children who live with
addicts. "They live in desperate circumstances and are among the most
vulnerable people we have," he said. Drug workers will need
re-training, he added, and with around 25,000 Scots on methadone,
there will be difficult decisions to be made about who takes priority
for expensive treatment.

A Scottish Government spokesman said last night the letters included
only some of the strategy and meeting the needs of addicts' children
would be part of it.