Agencies dealing with drug addiction and its underlying causes need to concentrate on helping addicts into recovery, Minister for Community Safety Fergus Ewing said today. 

Responding to the publication of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse Sub-Group's report entitled Essential Care, Ewing confirmed that the path to recovery would be at the centre of Scotland's new national drugs strategy, which will be published before the summer.

According to the Essential Care report are, there needs to be major change in the philosophy of care for people with problem substance use in Scotland, focusing on their individual aspirations.

Ewing said: "I believe we need to get better at encouraging each addict's personal vision of recovery by reducing practical barriers to services, while giving people hope by acknowledging that recovery is achievable.

"I have met former addicts who tell me that the key to believing in your own recovery is 'believing it can happen for you' - being optimistic that you can recover. The concept of recovery represents a significant shift in thinking and has happened in the field of mental health - why shouldn't people with drug problems believe they can recover too? 

"That's the question that all the agencies working to tackle drug misuse need to ask themselves. If the answer isn't yet a straightforward 'yes' - then they need to challenge the approaches they are taking. We have a real opportunity to put a strategy in place that commands widespread professional, political and public support. I want us all to seize that opportunity.

"We will publish a new drugs strategy for Scotland before summer and its main focus will be recovery. It is essential that people experiencing drug problems have access to a range of wider services including employment, housing, and health that help them to move-on and rebuild their lives."

Read the report in full
 

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