A taskforce chief believes a major cultural change is needed to help reduce drug deaths.
David Strang, a former chief constable of Dumfries and Galloway police, called for a compassionate approach to the issue of addiction.
Mr Strang, now head of the Scottish Government’s Drugs Death Taskforce, insisted “locking people up” is not the solution to the problem.
He was speaking after the taskforce published its final report which is calling for 139 specific actions including reducing stigma and ending discrimination around addiction.
Figures from the police and the Scottish Government show there were 44 suspected drugs deaths in Dumfries and Galloway last year – a new record – with 1,295 across the country.
Mr Strang said: “Every day in Scotland three people die of a drug overdose and that is just a shocking statistic.
“Each death is a tragedy obviously for the individual, but for their loved ones, for their families, for their communities and for the whole of Scotland. Addiction is not a crime.
“You can’t punish people out of addiction.”
He added: “We’ve had the Misuse of Drugs Act for 50 years and we’ve tried locking people up for possession of drugs and we just know that that is not the solution.
“This is an issue of addiction, which needs treatment, care and support, and compassion – not stigmatisation, discrimination and criminalisation.”
The report calls for changes in UK drugs law and suggests safe consumption facilities could help people into treatment, although Mr Strang warned it is not a magic solution.
He called for the Scottish Government to create an action plan for such facilities within six months but added the taskforce felt drug decriminalisation would be a “distraction” from the main topics.”
He added: “I think what we feel is Scotland’s not ready for that yet.
“It might be a journey that we go on but if you were to go down that road, there would need to be extensive consultation.”
Scotland’s Drugs Policy Minister, Angela Constance, said: “The taskforce was established to provide expert advice on the emergency response to rising drug-related deaths in Scotland.
“Many of the recommendations proposed in previous reports have already been implemented including measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and the expansion of the police naloxone pilot.
“Others, such as safer drug consumption facilities, drug-checking facilities, ending Friday liberations and Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards, are already being progressed.
“Of course, there are areas where we want to go far further and these recommendations will be central to delivering that. We have announced £1.1 million of new investment into public health surveillance projects to improve our real-time understanding of harms so we can improve our response.
