Scotland’s association with drugs is unfortunately not limited to Trainspotting, and the scale of the drug-use problem is difficult to ignore. In 2025, 1,133 people died from drug use in Scotland, an 11 per cent increase on the previous year. Although deaths remain below the record high of 1,339 in 2020, Scotland continues to experience a serious drug-harm crisis. Beyond Princes Street and the attractive corners of Edinburgh, drug addiction is a reality that a ‘just say no’ slogan has not managed to resolve.
The notion of ‘decriminalisation’ has permeated conversation around drugs for a long time, but what does the term really mean? Perhaps the most important distinction to make is that decriminalisation does not equate to legalisation. Decriminalisation of drugs will not lead to Scotland’s metamorphosis into an enormous Amsterdam ‘coffee shop’. Instead, it generally means removing or reducing criminal penalties for possessing drugs for personal use, while the production and sale of drugs may remain illegal. It is founded on the idea that someone struggling with addiction would be better served by a doctor, counsellor or support worker than by a sentence.
So what is presumed to happen when drug use is treated primarily as a public-health issue rather than a criminal one?
Supporters of the decriminalisation of drugs argue that addiction is fundamentally a health issue, while its criminalising can create barriers to employment and make people less willing to seek help. The Scottish Government has argued that decriminalisation could allow people found with drugs for personal use to receive treatment and support rather than being criminalised.
There is also the empirical argument that punishment thus far has not delivered a spectacular success story. Scotland’s latest figures demonstrate that drug-related harm remains substantial despite decades of prohibition. Of course, correlation is not causation, and we cannot use this evidence to determine that its criminalisation is what is pushing people to take recreational drugs, but it does call for query whether the existing approach is sufficient.
The main pushback for decriminalising drugs, meanwhile, is the worry that removing criminal penalties could make drug use appear more socially acceptable, or potentially increase consumption due to the alleviated legal repercussions and minimisation of the fear factor. Others point out that decriminalisation will not make addiction disappear, and many of its knock-on effects such as poverty, homelessness, mental illness, trauma and the illegal drug market would still exist. Changing the law does not cause an immediate, spontaneous change to people’s circumstances.
Scotland has already gravitated towards a more health-focused approach in some areas. An example is the opening of The Thistle in Glasgow, Scotland’s first safer drug consumption facility. It provides a supervised environment where individuals can consume drugs, with healthcare staff available to respond to overdoses and direct people to appropriate support.
Edinburgh may not have a facility like The Thistle, but that does not mean support is absent. NHS services, GPs, pharmacies and specialist drug services exist to provide treatment and referrals. Naloxone, a medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, is also available through drug services and pharmacies across Scotland. For more direct support options, there are also services such as With You, which offers online support around drugs, alcohol and mental health, alongside peer-support organisations including Narcotics Anonymous and Cocaine Anonymous. Edinburgh also has specialist community services, such as the North East Edinburgh Recovery Service.
With conflicting views around the legal treatment of drug use and possession, it is important to know that a valuable adjustment in how drug addiction is treated is one that is difficult to legislate for: destigmatisation.
NHS Inform explicitly describes drug and alcohol problems as health conditions and warns that stigma can stop people from seeking treatment. Perhaps amid the debate around the decriminalisation of drugs, we should decide what we actually want the system to achieve. After decades of trying to solve the problem with one blunt instrument, it may be time to admit that if punishment alone worked, Scotland wouldn’t still be having a drug crisis of this proportion.
Photo by Bertrand Colombo on Unsplash.
