This is why we must stop judging those who are facing drug abuse

Hearing Angela Constance MSP, in her role as Minister for Drugs Policy, saying she is minded to press ahead with safe consumption sites in Scotland has given me real hope that we are on the right track. Many of us, from different parties, have long argued for a public health approach rather than our current criminal justice approach.

This might seem like quite an obvious statement – of course it is a public health issue, but right now people are often afraid to ask for help for fear of being prosecuted. And let’s face it, we judge the illness of addiction to intoxicating substances in a way that we would never judge any other illness no matter how much the person suffering had contributed to their condition. And that’s dangerous because it’s often our judgement of them that stops an addict from seeking help.

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For me, it begins with the premise that nobody actively sets out to be an addict and it is well documented that most who become addicted are self-medicating to deal with unresolved childhood trauma.

I was made acutely aware of this when I was doing my teacher training 15 years ago at a primary school in the constituency I am now so proud to represent as an MP, Glasgow North East.

One of the teachers there said to me that every child in that primary seven class had a live connection to drugs in some way or another: a brother that died of an overdose; a mum who was murdered because she owed a dealer money; a dad who was on the run from the police for dealing; a sister on the street most days asking people for money to feed her habit.

This was a group of 11-year-olds who were having some of the most formative years and experiences of their life heavily impacted by drug addiction. And the most

heart-breaking thing to hear was that this teacher believed most of them would not be able to avoid that connection in their adult lives. And that’s when the empathy for them would stop. Because that’s what she’d watched over the previous 20 years.

If you saw a child using drugs or begging for money to feed their habit, I am sure you would be horrified but rather than judge, you’d want to protect them wouldn’t you? So I’d ask everyone reading this to think about that and think about what that teacher taught me that day, that we should not abandon a child just because their body takes on an adult form.

That rather than turn our backs, rather than lock them up, rather than ostracise them, we should be recognising drug abuse and addiction as an illness, as a public health matter, now a public health emergency.

I have spoken previously about why this is an issue very personal to me and now, as a legislator, it’s partly my responsibility to create a society where we can break the cycle of childhood trauma, leading to drug addiction, leading to interaction with the criminal justice system and eventually passing on that trauma to their kids who also become trapped in the cycle.

In practical terms that means decriminalisation of possession and it means rehabilitation instead of incarceration. It means safe injecting facilities where medical support is available to prevent overdosing and the availability of sterile needles to stop the spread of HIV and other illnesses in this vulnerable group.

It means earlier intervention and rehabilitation that works for that individual. Because every person we can take off that journey to drug addiction is potentially generations of people taken off that path.

There is much that the Scottish Government can and will do and I am very confident of that having listened to Angela Constance in recent weeks. But in terms of the legislative changes we need, there is no doubt if drug legislation was devolved we would find it easier. That is not me looking for an excuse to bang the drum for independence, it is just simple parliamentary arithmetic.

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We will keep trying but having listened to the UK Government, the chances of changing these laws are slim. So, let’s listen to the voices of those who are suffering from drug addiction, listen to their families and friends, listen to those that support them.

I know among all of these people and groups there will be different views about the way forward but let’s hear all of their ideas and in doing so, together we will find a way to create a system that helps rather than punishes.

A system that allows that teacher to have confidence that large numbers of the kids she teaches aren’t fated to end up in that cycle. And most importantly of all, as far from perfect people ourselves, let’s stop judging.