Dealing effectively with Scotland’s drug and alcohol problems is of major importance to tackling crime and criminal behaviour.

Half of those in custody report being drunk at the time of the offence and offenders are three times more likely to have an alcohol problem than the general population. In 2010, a United Nations report found that Scotland was the worst country for drug-related crime internationally with 656 drug offences per 100,000 people in Scotland.

Adopting minimum pricing for alcohol is the right strategy, but it will not in itself be sufficient to deal comprehensively with the problems associated with alcohol. Ongoing support needs to be given to screening and brief interventions to help people reduce their levels of alcohol use in a wide range of settings including A&E and Primary Care. Services must move away from the traditional, passive-reactive model to allow for interventions appropriate for people at all stages of the cycle of change.

The Scottish Government is right to promote The Road to Recovery programme. High quality delivery of addictions medicine services will always include the provision of gold standard prescribing such as methadone and buprenorphine, but this must be in association with robust psycho-social and peer-led support. It is vital that we do not allow recovery to become focussed on a narrow, exclusive definition of complete abstinence that will only ever meet the needs of a small, selective group of addicts. The emphasis must be on the continuum and individuality of each person’s own road to recovery.