SNP seeks to decriminalise illegal drugs

The SNP is seeking to decriminalise the possession and consumption of illegal drugs as a matter of party policy.

The announcement was made at the SNP conference in Aberdeen over the weekend.

The party agreed to call for drug laws to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament, so that it could put forward legislation to usher in decriminalisation.

Heroin

Scotland’s Lord Advocate, James Wolffe QC, said in July that drug consumption rooms are not permissible under current law, following efforts to open one in Glasgow.

The rooms, branded ‘shooting galleries’, allow heroin addicts to inject themselves without fear of arrest.

Recent figures showed that Scotland has the worst drug death rates in the Western world.

Soft touch

The Scottish Government has previously been criticised for its ‘soft-touch’ on cannabis.

It was revealed in April that police seizures are up by 270 per cent, yet the number of recorded crimes has fallen by a third.

Scottish Conservatives’ public health spokeswoman Annie Wells said police officers are working harder than ever and that it was time Scotland’s justice system “backed up those efforts up with stiff sentencing for dealers”.