DRUGS killed almost 1000 people in Scotland last year and unless action is taken the figure will continue to rise, according to a Scottish MP.
Ronnie Cowan, the MP for Inverclyde, yesterday visited Safe Drug Consumption Rooms (SDCRs) in Catalonia, and said the UK Government’s drug policy was the problem. By criminalising users, he said we have driven them into “the shadows of society”, in what he calls “the gift that keeps on giving for organised crime”.
“The UK is not the first country to get it wrong but we have been slower than others to take action to rectify the situation,” said Cowan.
Glasgow City Council had been investigating the opening of an SDCR but had been thwarted by existing laws. Today, in his Catalan Diary, Cowan calls for a change in UK law to allow such facilities.
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