A Scotland-only drugs summit will take place the day before a UK-wide event this month after an extra-ordinary ding-dong between Westminster and Holyrood.
The event at the SECC in Glasgow was hastily convened because the Scottish Government believes the Tories are carving up the agenda for the UK summit for political reasons.
The announcement by the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council appeared to sound a clear note of defiance to Westminster, weeks after the Home Office unilaterally announced its own event for Glasgow, cutting Scotland out of an expected partnership.
Scottish public health minister Joe FitzPatrick is concerned that people who have lived with are being excluded from the debate.
They will be represented at the first event on February 26.
FitzPatrick also believes the UK summit will simply disregard calls for reform of the Misuse of Drugs Act, which has virtual consensus support on Scotland and would possibly lead to the widespread decriminalisation of drug use.
FitzPatrick said he believes the Scottish meeting can feed into gaps in the bigger UK event.
He said: “The UK event, while welcome, simply does not have the voices of people with lived experience in Scotland at its heart. We’ve pressed the UK Government to extend their event to accommodate this, but this has not yet been forthcoming.
“We’ve been clear that the views and insights of people with lived experience must help shape how we tackle the high number of drug deaths in Scotland.
As a result, we are working with Glasgow City Council to host a Scottish summit on the eve of the UK event to try and better highlight the problem in Scotland.
“It’s clear the Misuse of Drugs Act is no longer fit for purpose. To enable innovations, such as a safer drug consumption facility, the law needs to change.
"We hope the UK Government will listen to the call from Scotland to make the necessary changes.”
Glasgow City council leader Susan Aitken said all options needed to be debated. She added: “The public health emergency facing the city is such that no option to tackle the rise in drug deaths should be off the table.
“Where we have the power to innovate, such as Scotland’s first Heroin Assisted Treatment programme, we do.
“Glasgow is ready to pilot a safer drug consumption facility.
"It will help protect the public and help save lives. We want to work constructively with both Governments to find a solution so we can put one in place. We hope that a workable plan is an outcome of the summits taking place in the city.”
Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon accused the Tories and SNP of playing tit-for-tat instead of focusing on the issues.
She said: “This latest announcement shows a real lack of trust between Holyrood and Westminster and that is highly regrettable ahead of a summit that’s meant to bring everyone together.
“The death toll due to drugs is expected to rise because ministers in Holyrood and Westminster have been far too slow to act.”
