Figures reveal true cost of addiction in Ayrshire

Apr 3 2009

A MASSIVE £10.8m is spent providing drug and booze services in Ayrshire.

The massive figure was revealed by government watchdogs this week.

And it has prompted MSP John Scott to call for a greater focus on tackling the problem.

He explained that £4.4m is spent on drug services alone, with a further £1.4m spent on alcohol services and £5m on combined services.

The MSP for Ayr said: “These figures underline the scale of the problem being faced and the need to further develop strategies to deal with drug and alcohol addiction locally.

“Drugs rip families and communities apart; they fuel crime, cause needless misery and death, and over recent years the government has not done nearly enough to confront the rising tide of drug abuse.

“We need a greater emphasis on rehabilitation and getting addicts off drugs, and that must be the clear direction of government policy.”

Mr Scott also called for stricter enforcement of the law and for more joint working between police, councils, alcohol groups and supermarkets, following publication of the report by Audit Scotland.

He added: “What is needed is a range of practical measures that educate, rehabilitate and when necessary strongly enforce, so that we can at last begin to get to grips with the deep-seated problems of drug and alcohol abuse and the social problems that they inflict on local communities.”

However, the Ayrshire cash is just a fraction of the £2.25bn spent tackling the problem across Scotland.

And the SNP’s Adam Ingram agrees that serious action is required.

He said: “With five per cent of Scots dependent on alcohol and a £2.25bn cost to our society – a cost Audit Scotland think is an underestimate – this report adds to the case for serious action to tackle alcohol problems in Scotland at all levels.

“The £5bn cost of both drug and alcohol abuse is a cost society should not have to bear.”

The MSP insists that new drug and alcohol strategies set to be implemented by the Scottish Government will go someway towards tackling the issues highlighted.

Mr Ingram went on: “There is a growing consensus that we need to tackle the problems alcohol causes in families and homes across the country, as well as the costs it places on our NHS, police and economy.

“The SNP has brought forward a new alcohol strategy and will introduce a new health bill that will deal with a range of alcohol measures.

“It is now time for opposition parties to consider the overwhelming evidence for a minimum price on alcohol and listen to the experts rather than the supermarkets – the new health bill will give all political parties the opportunity to legislate for positive change.”