Hansard

Not long after my election, I took on the role of co-convener of the cross-party group on drug and alcohol misuse, and through it I have learned a tremendous amount about the issues that we are discussing today. Recently, I hosted an event in the Parliament with Scottish Families Affected by Drugs; it is nice to see some of the people from that organisation in the gallery this morning. Also, I congratulate Sheila McKay on a lifetime of work on the agenda.

I have travelled across Edinburgh and across Scotland to speak to different organisations and groups that work in the field. I went with John Finnie to visit NHS Highland’s harm reduction unit, which is doing groundbreaking work on naloxone. I ask all members to look at that fantastic work, which should be happening throughout Scotland. I reiterate Richard Simpson’s point about naloxone and the situations that people find themselves in when they overdose. It does not tend to happen in a family environment; people tend not to overdose in front of their mum, dad, brother or sister. They are more likely to do it in front of somebody with whom they are taking drugs, or perhaps on their own, in which case they might be found by somebody else, in a coma or otherwise.

As important as it is that we help families to understand what naloxone is, and that we train them in using it—which is relevant to a conversation about drug and substance misuse—we also need to consider “family” in the widest possible sense. “Family” does not have to mean a relation or a blood relative; what matters is who a drug user or substance misuser defines as family. That is why community development is important, because services should be provided to the people whom somebody defines as their community on a day-to-day basis.

For some people whom I have met or worked with in the past year, family members are not the most helpful people for the recovery journey. Families might be at the heart of underlying problems or might have unhealthy relationships. Getting back into positive relationships with their families requires people to be at a stable point of recovery and to feel strong in their recovery. That cannot happen instantly—getting to the point at which people want to tackle underlying issues with their families takes a lot of time on the journey of recovery. That goes back to community development and the recovery communities that we can build.

I pay tribute to the Serenity cafe, of which some members might be aware. It has recently moved to new premises at the Tun, which is just around the corner from the Parliament. It is a fantastic organisation that is linked to Comas. I encourage members to use that open cafe, which is run by people in recovery for people in recovery and for the nearby community. More than 40 people in recovery provide the services—they are involved in food preparation and in making and serving coffees, for example. For those people, that is part of learning how to play a part in society again and learning skills that will equip them to get back into work. We parliamentarians are based close to that organisation; perhaps we all have a role and a responsibility to encourage people in that environment to do the best that they can.

I will conclude, because I appreciate that time is tight. I have learned from the recovery community that the Government could do a couple of simple things that would not cost much but could make all the difference. One suggestion relates to the support that we offer families when a family member is in recovery. Often, the person who is recovering gets concessions for leisure activities or bus journeys, but the family gets no such concessions. If we extended to the children of recovering addicts free swimming and free bus travel to and from appointments, we would alleviate somewhat the financial pressure.

Another simple point relates to the appointments process. People in recovery being told that they must make a 3 o’clock appointment with their consultant, which is the time when they are picking up their kid from school—perhaps for the first time in a decade—creates stress that addicts really struggle with. That applies particularly to those who have had a lifetime of using benzodiazepines, which means that their stress hormone receptors are suppressed and they cannot deal with stress in the way that other people can.

Simple things could make all the difference. I would like to hear the minister’s response to these simple ideas.

10:02