Tory minister Penny Mordaunt has sparked anger after mocking a plan aimed at slowing Scotland's drug deaths crisis to "score cheap points" in a row with the SNP.
Warning that undermining proven health interventions 'costs lives', experts spoke The independent accused Ms Mordaunt of "crushing on a group of people who are among the most marginalized and vilified in society" - and urged ministers to prioritize tackling England's own overdose crisis.
Scotland's overdose rate is the highest in Europe, with 1,051 drug-related deaths last year, despite a record fall in fatalities amid a national effort to tackle the crisis. South of the border, drug deaths have also tripled in less than a decade, reaching a record high of 4,859 in 2021.
Despite longstanding opposition from the UK government, support from Scotland's top legal official in September has now paved the way for a planned drug consumption room in Glasgow - a space where people can take drugs in the presence of medical professionals to prevent overdoses. they happen.
But Ms Mordaunt tried to use the plan as a punchline on Thursday in a tirade against the SNP's "terrible legacy" for Scottish children, as she criticized "a devastated education system, a widening education gap, fewer teachers, falling maths scores in every PISA study. survey, science is at a low ebb and literacy rates are plummeting."
"But of course they will have a safe and warm place where they can take heroin," the minister told the House of Commons.
The comments were met with consternation among experts and politicians both north and south of the border, including those who have lost loved ones to drug overdoses.
Gavin Heron, who lost his 25-year-old brother Evan to a heroin overdose in November 2021, said: "He died alone in his home a week after moving in following a heroin overdose. Penny Mordaunt used people like my brother to score cheap points today, but we know safe consumption spaces work.
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Recalling his personal witness to the reversal of an overdose in a Lisbon institution, Mr Heron added: "I have seen the criticism that 'they are only delaying death' or that [they] its 'palliative care'. To that I say: who are you to say that someone should die because of their drug use? Tell that to liver transplant recipients: would you sentence them to death and deny the gift of life?
"I don't know if a safe consumption space would have saved my brother - but we need different types of help for different people and different circumstances. People inject misery and without dignity - would you want to be part of a society that so cruelly shuns you and regards your needs and life as unnecessary?
"Let's give everything we can to solve this crisis. We owe it to people like my brother and everyone who has died a drug-related death in this country."
In response to the former Tory leadership hopeful's joke, SNP MP Stewart McDonald wrote on Twitter/X: "You're disgracing yourself, Penny Mordaunt.
"My brother died at home of a drug overdose. If he had access to a healthcare facility such as a safe consumption space - somewhere 'safe and warm' as you put it - to manage his addiction, he might still be alive."
Speak with The national one Writing in the paper - which criticized the 'disgraceful' comments on the front page - Kirsten Horsburgh, director of the Scottish Drugs Forum, warned that 'undermining the harm reduction approach is costing lives'.
"This is an unhelpful perspective and makes a mockery of a proven service that engages and supports people who are particularly vulnerable to drug-related harm," Ms Horsburgh said.
Peter Krykant, who risked the prospect of a criminal conviction by setting up a mobile overdose prevention center in an ambulance in Glasgow three years ago in defiance of British laws, described Ms Mordaunt's comments as "cold-hearted".
"Scottish drug death rates are the highest in Europe. We are implementing something proven worldwide to reduce deaths and harm, but Ms Mordaunt's disregard is brazen," Mr Krykant said.
Experts also highlighted the fact that fatal overdoses are a public health crisis across Britain - not just Scotland - and accused the British government of creating a 'hostile environment' for people who use drugs.
"Mordaunt's comment was a cheap shot, attacking a group of people who are among the most marginalized and vilified in society," said Niamh Eastwood, chief executive of the charity Release. The independent.
"She's talking about the SNP, but in England alone almost 11,000 people have died from heroin-related deaths since the Conservatives came to power in 2010. Since 2011, drug-related deaths have broken records every year in all four countries.
"We are currently experiencing an increasingly toxic drug supply, leading to more overdose deaths. Focusing on the crisis unfolding in England and other parts of Britain should be Mordaunt's priority, not on glossy comments about the Scottish Government wanting to provide 'safe and warm' spaces.
"These spaces can save lives, but it is clear that the UK government wants to continue to create an unsafe and hostile environment for people who use drugs."
The row comes after cross-party MPs on the Home Affairs Committee urged the government to back a pilot project of drug consumption rooms.
"Overdose prevention centers around the world have been proven to reduce the harm caused by drugs, as well as reduce the number of drug-related deaths," said Megan Jones, director of the Cranstoun charity. The independent - and urged ministers to support the committee's report.
"At a time when we are facing a public health crisis across Britain when it comes to people dying from overdoses, we would urge the Government to look at the evidence relating to these facilities."
