For three years, this newspaper has campaigned for radical change to stop the rising number of drug deaths.
It was Scotland’s deadly epidemic long before coronavirus reached our shores.
The most recent figures show there were 1264 drug deaths in 2019 – a rise of six per cent from the year before.
Prompted by our Addicted campaign, the nation woke up to the crisis and a forward-thinking group of campaigners called for action to replace the old methods of dealing with addicts.
It included safe injecting rooms, decriminalisation of drugs and increased access to rehab.
On the back of the campaign, a welcome multi-million pound funding package is being rolled out by the Scottish Government.
One of the most simple calls was for police to be armed with naloxone.
It’s a simple nasal spray which can be given to someone suffering a heroin overdose to counteract the effect.
Last Saturday night, special constable Stewart Barclay was on duty in Glasgow and was carrying naloxone for the first time.
He had received training on using it just five days before, as part of a six-month Police Scotland pilot.
Stewart went to a suspected overdose victim, used the spray and saved a man’s life.
That is one less number knocked off those statistics.
That is one less family grieving for a son or daughter.
That is proof that this six-month pilot needs to be made permanent.
Scotland owes it to the sons and daughters who couldn’t be saved.
Alba up the ante
Political leaders are faced with tough decisions every day and voters hope they will make them in an informed manner.
What they don’t want is someone who will simply take a punt and hope for the best.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon claimed yesterday that her former mentor Alex Salmond was asking Scots to gamble on the outcome of the next election.
Salmond says his new Alba Party is a racing certainty to secure a super-majority of pro-independence MSPs.
But when it comes to his political judgment, all bets are off.
Sturgeon also claimed Salmond bets on horses “on an almost daily basis”.
The former first minister hit back that his new party will be appealing to all Scots – including those that gamble and those that don’t.
But judging by its campaign so far, the going has gone from good to heavy for the Alba Party.
Salmond looks like the wrong bet for Scotland.
