Bring ex-addicts on board to tackle drug deaths crisis, say experts

Crisis levels of drug-related deaths in Scotland, and across the UK, can only be tackled if people with experience of addiction and recovery have a seat at the table, according to speakers ahead of two major conferences in Glasgow this week.

In a sign of escalating tensions between the Scottish and UK governments, summits on the spiralling death toll from drugs, organised separately by each administration, will take place at the same city centre venue on Wednesday and Thursday.

Jardine Simpson of the Scottish Recovery Consortium said: “There’s been a lot of talk about the timing of the conferences, but the real story here is still drug deaths and the desperate need to reinvent the narrative around addiction and recovery. Addiction is an isolating experience in itself, but when society rejects you it is doubly stigmatising.”

Simpson will speak at Wednesday’s summit, organised by the Scottish government in partnership with Glasgow’s city council, which has led calls for a pilot drug consumption room, so far denied by Westminster. It has also set up the first heroin-assisted treatment centre in Scotland, as drug deaths and HIV infection rates in Glasgow soar.

Reflecting the concerns of many in the recovery movement, Simpson said: “Of course people should be offered medically assisted treatment [usually methadone], but most people who come forward for help ultimately want to be substance-free. They need psycho-social support too, but our services don’t currently deliver both.”

“You Keep Talking, We Keep Dying” is the stark slogan of the campaign set up by Faces and Voices of Recovery UK (Favor UK) as a response to the 27% increase in drug-related deaths in Scotland over the last recorded year – alongside a 16% increase in deaths from drug poisoning in England and Wales, the highest annual leap since records began.

In the past 12 months, the Scottish affairs select committee has concluded its inquiry into problem drug use, the Scottish government drug deaths taskforce has been convened, and Dame Carol Black has concluded her year-long review into drug use and supply across the UK, the findings of which will be delivered at Thursday’s summit.

But there is a growing anger among charities and specialists at what they see as political inertia beyond this high-level talk on both sides of the border, as well as frustration that improvements that could be made right now are overshadowed by wrangling about Westminster’s intransigence in refusing to devolve drug laws to Scotland.

Annemarie Ward of Favor UK, a delegate to the Scottish government summit, argues that the current system is unbalanced with too much focus on managing symptoms, be that methadone, heroin-assisted treatment or safe injecting facilities: “What we call treatment in the UK is actually harm reduction intervention. We need the same size of investment to pay for detox, rehab and trauma therapy.”

Other practitioners argue that improving access to medical treatment is essential for those who are not ready or capable of engaging with more intensive therapies. A further rise in death rates is anticipated this year, the result of a “perfect storm” of unpredictably strong prescription drugs flooding the market, poly-drug use and decades-long addicts in already fragile health.

Martin Powell of the drug policy foundation Transform, another delegate at the Scottish summit, noted with optimism that the UK event would hear a presentation from Portugal’s ministry of health about that country’s world-leading decriminalisation experience.

“We have a lot to learn from Portugal [in terms of prosecutions], but the UK government should allow safer drug consumption room pilots, to engage the hard to reach people who inject alone and on the street.

“We need funding for a lot more heroin prescribing clinics like those in Glasgow and Middlesbrough, which save lives, reduce HIV infections and crime to fund use, while taking money from the heroin trade away from organised crime. We also need places people can get their drugs tested so they know what they are taking and don’t overdose accidentally: the UK government licensed a pilot of this in Weston-super-Mare last year.”

The prominence of international perspectives, along with expectations that Black’s review of current policy will be fairly critical, has led some observers to speculate that the UK government may be ready to signal a shift. The UK crime minister, Kit Malthouse, who will be chairing Thursday’s event, has supported diversion schemes such as those piloted in the Thames valley and Durham that aim to break the cycle of addiction and crime by directing those caught with small amounts of drugs for personal use towards treatment and education.

Another international expert speaking at the UK government event is Keith Humphreys, a Stanford University professor who advised Barack Obama on drugs policy. He told the Guardian that he planned to challenge the UK government to give Scotland’s recovery community “a seat at the table”.

“While medication and treatment are essential services, most people seeking help desire more than just biological stabilisation and reduced drug use/harm – they want a full life, connection to other people and community, and a productive role in the world: in other words they want recovery.”