JOE FitzPatrick has resigned as Public Health Minister after facing mounting pressure from Labour and the LibDems who criticised his leadership of plans to combat Scotland’s drug death crisis.
The SNP frontbencher was facing a motion of no confidence from opposition MSPs but has "agreed that I should leave government".
Angela Constance has been appointed as a dedicated minister for drugs policy, while a new public health minister will be nominated on Monday.
FitzPatrick said: “It has been the privilege of my life to serve in the Scottish Government and, during that time, the most heart-breaking and difficult problems I have faced as Public Health Minister is the harms and deaths caused by drug use.
“I have worked with families who have felt the burden and weight of grief from drug use. I want to thank them for their candour and the amazing efforts they make to try and make our country better and safer for all.
“As the minister responsible for this area I, ultimately, take my responsibility. It is clear that my presence as a minister will become a distraction, when we should be focused on achieving the change we need to save lives.
“There is nothing I can express that will ease the loss that so many families have felt due to a death from drugs use. I can only say how sorry I am for their loss, and that hearing the experiences of the families and the recovery communities will never leave me.”
IN FULL: Joe FitPatrick's full statement on quitting over drug deaths
FitzPatrick was under pressure after the National Records of Scotland revealed that 1264 people had died drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2019, up 6% on the previous year.
Nearly seven in 10 of those who died last year were male and more than two-thirds were aged 35–54.
According to the NRS, Scotland’s drug-death rate was higher than those reported for all the EU countries and was approximately three and a half times that of the UK as a whole.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I thank Joe for his work as a minister and the service he has given to Government over the last eight years, firstly as Minister for Parliamentary Business and then as Minister for Public Health.
“While the time has now come to make a change in the public health brief, no one should doubt Joe’s hard work, dedication and sincerity. He will continue to champion the interests of his constituents at Holyrood, and I wish him well in the future.”
READ MORE: Douglas Ross claims Joe FitzPatrick's resignation over drug deaths 'changes nothing'
Constance will now lead the Scottish Government's work on tackling drugs harm as well as being tasked with reducing the shocking number of drugs deaths in Scotand.
She will report directly to the First Minister and was been appointed until May's Holyrood election, subject to approval by MSPs.
Before entering elected politics, Ms Constance served as a social worker, including working with people with a history of drug misuse and families living with the consequences of addiction.
Sturgeon said: “Scotland’s record on drug deaths is simply not good enough and as First Minister I know we have much more to do.
“As a first step I have decided to appoint a dedicated minister, working directly alongside me, whose job it will be to work across government to improve outcomes for people whose lives are affected by drugs.
“We must not accept a situation in which people who use drugs are allowed to fall through the cracks, with so many dying premature and avoidable deaths as a result. Behind the statistics are real people whose lives matter, and I am absolutely determined that we take actions to fix this.”
Constance said: “It is a privilege to be asked to work with the First Minister to address this challenge.
“I intend to get straight down to business, meeting with people who are at risk of dying from drugs, learning from the families of those we have lost and working with those in our communities and public health teams who are providing such valuable support.
“Government can and will do more and I am determined to use the short time before the election to work with the Drug Death Taskforce on the actions necessary to reduce Scotland’s drug deaths and better support those living with addiction.”
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