As a substitute for heroin for addict recovery, the methadone programme appears to have failed one Scotsman who recently had his state-funded medication cut off 20 years later as a result of failing a drugs test. The supply of methadone to heroin addicts in Scotland cost taxpayers approx. £50 million per year. As the leading expert on substance abuse in Scotland, Professor Neil McKeganey has called for a review of the programme and criticises the Government for failing to reduce the cost.

Released on the 22^nd January, Scotland’s NHS has reported 15 cases of confirmed anthrax within drug users with the latest cases in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.  This brings the number of confirmed cases in six NHS boards.  The release also provides an important question & answer sheet.   Health Protection Scotland advises all drug users need to be aware of the risk that their supply of heroin may be contaminated.  Read here for more.

Seven have been reported dead and 14 hospitalised as heroin is suspected to have been contaminated with anthrax.  How anthrax got there remains a mystery.  It is possible to have been added either whilst en route to or within the UK.  Jolene Crawford, head of Transform Drug Policy Foundation Scotland states that these recent deaths have “exposed the flaws in the Scottish Government’s drugs policy.”

Unfortunately, as Patricia Tracey (Glasgow Drug Crisis Centre) puts it, “[u]sers are concerned, but not concerned enough to stop using.”