THE Scottish Parliament unanimously agreed a motion declaring Scotland’s drug deaths a public health emergency, with almost 3400 deaths due to drug misuse in the last three years.
An amendment from Scottish Labour adding support for the use of public health interventions such as safe consumption facilities to prevent overdoses was agreed by 113 votes to one.
A Liberal Democrat amendment calling for the next Scottish Government to “co-ordinate a plan for a Scotland-wide network of heroin-assisted treatment facilities” and working towards the decriminalisation of drug possession for personal use was also agreed unanimously.
The Scottish Parliament also unanimously agreed to approve the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2021, authorising the payment of funding grants to councils.
However, Scottish Labour subsequently indicated they did not support the order.
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