LONDON (AP) – The Scottish authorities has proposed decriminalizing possession of all medication for private use to sort out one in all Europe’s highest overdose demise charges.
The suggestion was nearly immediately blocked by the Conservative U.Okay. authorities in London, which stated it had “no plans” to melt drug legal guidelines.
The semi-autonomous Edinburgh authorities, led by the pro-independence Scottish National Party, stated Friday that eradicating felony penalties for drug possession would “allow for the provision of safe, evidence-based harm reduction services.”
Scotland’s demise price from drug overdoses is thrice the speed within the U.Okay. as an entire and the very best in Western Europe. Last 12 months there have been nearly 1,100 drug-related deaths in Scotland, which has a inhabitants of 5.5 million, in response to authorities figures.
“The war on drugs has failed,” Scottish medication minister Elena Whitham stated at a information convention alongside former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and ex-Swiss President Ruth Dreifuss, each advocates of drug legislation reform.
“Our current drug law does not stop people from using drugs, it does not stop people from experiencing the harm associated and, critically, it does not stop people from dying,” Whitham stated.
The Scottish authorities stated decriminalization would free “individuals from the fear of accessing treatment and support, reducing drug-related harms and, ultimately, improving lives.” It cited the instance of Portugal, which ditched felony penalties for drug possession greater than twenty years in the past and targeted on therapy.
Whitham stated the federal government additionally wished to vary the legislation so it may create supervised drug consumption rooms and would think about introducing the regulated provide of medicine.
She stated the disaster would worsen with out radical change. She stated Scotland was “facing down the barrel of a storm in terms of synthetic opioids and new and novel street benzodiazepines that are heading to our shores.”
“If we are not prepared for that arriving here, with 21st century drug laws in place, I’m terrified as to what that could look like,” she stated.
But Russell Findlay, justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservative Party, stated “essentially legalizing heroin, crack and other class-A drugs” wouldn’t resolve Scotland’s drug deaths drawback.
Scotland already permits folks caught with unlawful medication to be given a police warning fairly than being prosecuted, however decriminalizing medication would require assist from the U.Okay. authorities.
Max Blain, spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, stated that was not going to occur.
“There are no plans to alter our tough stance on drugs,” he stated.
The Scottish authorities has usually taken extra liberal positions on social points than the Conservative administration in London. Last 12 months a legislation handed by the Scottish parliament that may make it simpler for folks to formally change gender was blocked by Sunak’s authorities.
The governing SNP makes use of such disagreements to bolster its argument that Scotland could be higher off leaving the United Kingdom and turning into an unbiased nation.
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