Hansard

I congratulate Nanette Milne on bringing this important debate to the chamber. I know that her original intention was to have a members’ business debate on the motion, but the seriousness of the issue is such that it is appropriate that it has been chosen for Conservative Party business. I am pleased, given that there appears to be consensus, that we are able to unite around the motion and amendments.

I met Sheila McKay of the Grampian Family Support Forum not long after I was elected, at the community partnerships programme event that was held in the Parliament. As Nanette Milne did, I attended the recovery happens event in the Parliament. It is fair to say that one would need to have had a heart of stone not to be moved by the testimonies of the individuals who spoke at that meeting. The clear message came out that families have a key role and that they want it to be further embedded.

There were three main messages from the event. First, families have a lot to contribute and want to be involved in supporting the people whom they love, and in helping to find solutions to the wider problems. Secondly, people who are recovering from addiction want to give something back. Thirdly, we as a Parliament and as a society, need to work together to help to tackle the stigma that people with addictions and their families face.

Important work is being done by networks such as the Grampian Family Support Forum and the other forums that have been mentioned and which will, I am sure, continue to be mentioned by members. The key role that they play is to ensure that families that are affected by substance misuse do not feel isolated within their communities. One thing that was highlighted at the recovery happens event—Nanette Milne mentioned it in her speech—is that, whether we like it or not, a societal stigma remains around substance misuse, and especially around families in which a member has a substance misuse problem. Stigma is felt by those families when, instead of taking what might be seen as the easy option and casting the family member away, they choose to support and help them. As Nanette Milne said, one aspect of that stigma is the language that is used in society.

At the recovery happens event, I made the point that we politicians have a key role to play in shaping the public debate about substance misuse and how individuals and families who are affected by it are viewed through the prism of the public debate. We must all take caution and reflect on how we respond to calls from journalists to comment on issues relating to substance misuse, particularly where an individual has committed an offence that relates to their substance misuse. The language that is used often stigmatises the family of the individual, which adds to the isolation that they feel—isolation that is being tackled by groups such as the Grampian Family Support Forum.

We also need to reflect on our own situations, which I certainly did during the recovery happens event. Within my community, my peer group and the people I went to school with, there are those who have gone down the road of substance misuse, and I reflected on the different ways in which our lives have gone. Some of the people whom I played with in the playground at primary school now find themselves involved in substance misuse. We must recognise that substance misuse is not the preserve of certain communities in society. It happens to people who have the same life chances as those who go on to very different outcomes and destinations. It can happen to anyone, and it can affect anyone. We need to reflect on that when we look at how we shape the debate going forward.

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