Humza Yousaf repeats call for personal drug use to be decriminalised in Scotland

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Humza Yousaf has repeated his government's belief that all drugs should be decriminalised for personal use in Scotland.The First Minister made the claim yesterday as he faced awkward questions from opposition parties over why the number of Scots dying from suspected overdoses rose by 10 per cent last year.The SNP leader was asked by Anas Sarwar when the Scottish Government would finally "get a grip" on the crisis that sees more people die from drugs in Scotland per head of population than any other European nation.It comes after figures out this week showed there were 1,197 suspected drug deaths between January and December 2023.The Record has led the way in calling for drug addiction to be treated as a health matter instead of a criminal one.Our front page on July 4, 2019 forced the issue to the top of the political agenda when we first reported on the case for the decriminalisation of drugs in Scotland.Speaking at First Minister's Questions, Yousaf gave an "absolute guarantee" that his government would try "innovative approaches" wherever possible.He added: "If we did have the power over the Misuse of Drugs Act, for example, we would seek to make changes in relation to the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use. "We know that intervention has worked in other countries."All laws over drug use are reserved to Westminster but the Scottish Government has responsibility for health and social policies around drug consumption.Elena Whitham, the former SNP drugs minister, last year called on the UK Government to change the law to allow people to be "treated and supported rather than criminalised and excluded".She said the "war on drugs has failed" as she promoted a report outlining measures the Scottish Government