POLICY
THE BEST LAID PLANS
With Scotland in the grip of a drug deaths crisis for well over a decade, not to mention the ongoing impact of high rates of alcohol harm, how effective will its latest government strategy be?
I n late February, as the Scottish Government announced the final round of funding for its five-year national drugs mission, drug and alcohol policy minister Maree Todd said that the government would soon be announcing its new alcohol and drugs strategic plan. That came less than two weeks later, with the publication of Preventing harm, promoting recovery.
Backed by £ 160m of funding for this financial year, the new plan aims to improve collaboration between the government and grassroots delivery, with a‘ locally led, accountable system, guided by clear national direction and support’.
According to previous reports by Audit Scotland, that improvement in accountability is something that’ s sorely needed, with a 2022 document stating that the country’ s complex delivery system for drug and alcohol services made it hard to properly track either spending or the value it was providing. A follow-up report said while there had been progress in boosting residential capacity and implementing treatment standards, Scotland’ s ongoing drug death crisis had led to attention shifting away from the country’ s serious levels of alcohol harm.
Although Scotland saw a 7 per cent fall in alcohol-specific deaths in 2024, this was from the previous year’ s record high of 1,277 – the highest figure since
2008. Meanwhile, the most recent Police Scotland figures show there were 1,146 suspected drug deaths in 2025 – 8 per cent up on the previous year( see news, page 4).
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM Responses to the new plan have been cautiously optimistic, with more than one organisation stressing the importance of not overlooking alcohol.‘ Back in 2024, Audit Scotland called
out the Scottish Government for shifting focus away from alcohol harm,’ said SHAAP chair Dr Alastair MacGilchrist, who welcomed the document but said the government needed to‘ act with urgency’ to address the country’ s alcohol problem – as the scale of the challenge demanded action‘ that matches the rhetoric’.
Alcohol Focus Scotland( AFS), meanwhile, said it was pleased to see a commitment to‘ whole population, preventative action’ on alcohol harm – around price, marketing and availability – and also welcomed the plan’ s commitment to expanding early detection of liver disease, including increased use of noninvasive mobile liver scanning. A report from Public Health Scotland last year warned that the number of people living with chronic liver disease – the majority of which cases are alcohol-related – was projected to increase by more than 50 per cent by 2044.
Visions and aims of Preventing harm, promoting recovery
The plan focuses on the interconnected themes of
» prevention and early intervention
» harm reduction
» treatment and care
» the wider circle of support
Delivery will be underpinned by a‘ human rights-based approach’, and a system that is accountable, locally-led, responsive and sustainable – guided by national direction and support.
INDUSTRY OPPOSITION‘ Scotland was, not so very long ago, a pioneer on the prevention and reduction of alcohol harm – the first country in the world to introduce minimum unit pricing, a real David versus Goliath victory in the face of massive industry opposition,’ said AFS chief executive Carolyn Lochhead.‘ Sadly, recent years have seen us overtaken by other countries – with the likes of the Republic of Ireland striding confidently ahead with restrictions on marketing and the introduction( albeit delayed by industry lobbying) of health warning labels.’ The Scottish Parliamentary elections are being held next month, and whoever wins had the opportunity to‘ once again lead the way on tackling alcohol harm’, she said.
HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH The Scottish Government says that delivery of the plan will be underpinned by a human rights-based approach, something that WithYou’ s director for Scotland, Louise Stewart, called‘ vitally important’ – but with the caveat that unless the next government ensured the plan was backed by ringfenced, inflation-proof funding, the sector risked losing not only the momentum but its workforce.
The plan’ s commitment to residential rehab, meanwhile – and reducing the myriad barriers to accessing it – has been welcomed by organisations like Phoenix Futures and Abbeycare, with Phoenix Futures chief executive Karen Biggs calling it‘ well informed, honest and ambitious – some might say too ambitious in the range and depth of the challenges it has set.
‘ I won’ t be criticising anyone for having ambition for the people the strategy aims to support,’ she stated.‘ That for me is well overdue.’ DDN
Preventing harm, promoting recovery: Scotland ' s alcohol & drugs strategic plan 2026 – 2035 is available at www. gov. scot
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8 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • APRIL 2026 WWW. DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS. COM