Scottish Tory MSPs are under pressure to back a cross-party campaign to tackle Scotland’s major drugs-death crisis - including talks on decriminalisation.
MSPs from other parties have supported a petition demanding a fresh approach to the scandal.
But Labour’s Neil Findlay said Conservatives who privately support the call are unwilling to break cover.
“I know there are people in the Conservative party who share our views about the need for major reform of drugs policy, including a real look at decriminalisation,” he said.
“I appeal to them to put the lives of constituents ahead of party.”
It comes days after official figures revealed a 27 per cent increase in drug deaths over a year, making Scotland the worst in the developed world.
The total of 1187 deaths in 2018 included more deaths in every measured category.
The Record has been running a major campaign to bring fresh thinking to the failing drugs strategy.
Our call to consider decriminalisation led to pressure on the Scottish and UK Governments to come together and look at radical solutions.
The Record asked if any Tory MSPs would back the petition, hosted on the Change.org website.
A Conservative spokesman said: “The Scottish Conservatives have spent years demanding action on this issue, and only this week demanded a cross-party, cross-government summit to tackle it.”
The shocking death toll included an alarming rise in those who succumbed to street drugs.
More than half of those who died had taken “street benzos” amongst other substances, with the pills often mass produced by gangsters in factories and sold for pennies.
Half involved Etizolam, the “Blue Plague” drug exposed by the Record three years ago.
The Scottish Government controls health and justice policies but not drug classification powers.
The UK Government has taken a hard line against calls for safe drug consumption rooms in cities such as Glasgow.
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