Nicola Sturgeon accused of 'de-facto decriminalisation' of drugs in Scotland as police are told people with heroin, crystal meth and crack cocaine should be let off with a warning
Scotland effectively decriminalised drugs yesterday in a major shake-up of policing.
Officers will now be advised to issue only a ‘recorded police warning’ to anyone they catch in possession of illicit substances, including Class A heroin and cocaine.
SNP ministers were accused of ‘waving the white flag’ and of forcing the change through by the ‘back door’.
The shake-up was announced in a statement to the Scottish parliament by the country’s Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain.
It will not go to a vote because the senior law officer has the power to update guidelines issued to police. Drugs policy in the rest of the UK remains unchanged.
Drug deaths soared to a record high of 1,339 in Scotland last year, more than three and half times the rate for the rest of the UK.
Opposition leaders in Scotland condemned the lack of parliamentary scrutiny.
Ms Sturgeon has previously been accused of presiding over 'national shame' as Scotland's drugs deaths hit a new record of 1,339 last year
The move comes with Scotland in the midst of a drugs crisis, with the highest death rate in Europe, with opiates the main problem.
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain QC told the Scottish Parliament today that those caught with even the hardest Class A drugs could be given a Recorded Police Warning rather than being taken to court.
'The Scottish parliament must have a say with a full debate and vote on this topic, not just a quick Q&A session,’ said Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Jamie Greene.
‘We need to fully scrutinise the gravity of a decision of such importance and magnitude.
‘Scotland’s drug death crisis is our national shame, but the way to tackle it is to improve access to treatment and rehabilitation, not to dilute how seriously we treat possession of deadly drugs like heroin, crystal meth and crack cocaine.
‘The answer to our drugs crisis is more access to treatment, not this de facto decriminalisation by the back door.’ Tom Buchan, a former chief superintendent with now-defunct Strathclyde Police, said: ‘This is a surrender – the white flag has gone up. It will have no benefits at all and it comes in the middle of a huge drugs emergency – it’s more soft-touch nonsense.
‘I feel sorry for the officers who will have to implement this – they don’t want to be turning a blind eye to crime.
'I don’t know who they’ve consulted on this, if anyone, but it is basically just throwing in the towel.’
The dramatic change of approach was announced by Miss Bain in her first appearance in the Holyrood chamber since being appointed Lord Advocate.
It followed a review ordered by her predecessor James Wolffe QC.
Trainspotting (1996) highlighted the widespread depth of the drugs crisis in Scotland
The grim toll went up 5 per cent last year, the seventh annual rise in a row, as the country continued to have the worst fatality rate in Europe
Miss Bain said: ‘As Lord Advocate, I issue guidelines to the police in relation to the operation of this scheme, including which offences may be considered for a recorded police warning.
‘These guidelines are set by me, acting independently of any other person.
‘They extend beyond drug possession offences and are therefore properly confidential. However, I can confirm the guidelines previously permitted the police to issue recorded police warnings for possession of Class B and Class C drugs.
‘I have considered the review and I have decided that an extension of the recorded police warning guidelines to include possession offences for Class A drugs is appropriate.
'Police officers may therefore choose to issue a recorded police warning for simple possession offences for all classes of drugs.’
She said warnings would be issued only to people caught in possession of drugs and not those who supply them.
And she insisted it was not decriminalisation because recorded police warnings were an ‘enforcement of the law’.
More than 10,000 offenders a year were fined or otherwise prosecuted under the previous rules. Recorded police warnings were introduced by the SNP government for ‘low-level offences’ in 2016.
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