Chamber
Plenary, 20 Jan 2000
20 Jan 2000 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
Drug Misuse
Let us get back to the crux of the matter. The SNP calls for a substance misuse strategy committee—not to criticise what the Executive intends to do, but to assist it in carrying it out. We want to help the agencies that are involved to carry out their work and to tackle substance abuse. More important, such a committee would help members of the Parliament to understand properly the issues. I know that many members from different parties support that idea—I hope that John Young can.
As Angus MacKay pointed out, it is important to understand that we are up against an international business that constitutes 4 per cent of world trade. We must recognise that it is an extremely sophisticated industry. It is ironic that the Royal Navy's current recruitment advertisement on television shows the Royal Navy carrying out a drugs bust in the Caribbean. It would be more useful to see the Navy working with Customs and
Excise officers, and reinstated coastguard stations on our west coast—whence drugs are leaked into Europe. The SNP pleads that Angus MacKay speak to his UK equivalent about the reinstatement of coastguard stations and reassessment of the number of Customs and Excise officers on Scotland's west coast.
I also suggest that we need to discuss the possibility of extending the remit of the fishery protection vessels that operate on the Atlantic coast and to consider drug seizures from ships that might be involved in illicit trade.
Most important, as Fiona Hyslop and Roseanna Cunningham said, this is an economic problem. We are up against a great industry. It is estimated that, in Glasgow last year, the black drugs economy was worth about £80 million to £100 million. If that estimate is correct, surely we have to match it pound for pound. If we were to take £80 million out of Glasgow's economy—because that is where that money is—we would have to replace it.
The proposed committee would be useful because it would deal with the broad range of issues. Whether we like it or not, the Scottish economy is, to some degree, underpinned by the black economy of the drugs trade. As I said to the minister this morning, if we do not have a proper and consistent audit of the black economy, how will we tackle the potential poverty that we would create by eradicating the drugs trade? Admittedly, we all know that that cannot happen tomorrow, next week or even within the next couple of years, but we could begin the process.
We believe that the best way in which to develop this afternoon's great debate is to institute a substance misuse strategy committee and to allow that committee to assist the Executive and the agencies on the ground. That would genuinely allow the Parliament to deal with the many issues around substance abuse and misuse in Scotland.
I recommend the SNP's amendment to members and ask them to vote for it.
As Angus MacKay pointed out, it is important to understand that we are up against an international business that constitutes 4 per cent of world trade. We must recognise that it is an extremely sophisticated industry. It is ironic that the Royal Navy's current recruitment advertisement on television shows the Royal Navy carrying out a drugs bust in the Caribbean. It would be more useful to see the Navy working with Customs and
Excise officers, and reinstated coastguard stations on our west coast—whence drugs are leaked into Europe. The SNP pleads that Angus MacKay speak to his UK equivalent about the reinstatement of coastguard stations and reassessment of the number of Customs and Excise officers on Scotland's west coast.
I also suggest that we need to discuss the possibility of extending the remit of the fishery protection vessels that operate on the Atlantic coast and to consider drug seizures from ships that might be involved in illicit trade.
Most important, as Fiona Hyslop and Roseanna Cunningham said, this is an economic problem. We are up against a great industry. It is estimated that, in Glasgow last year, the black drugs economy was worth about £80 million to £100 million. If that estimate is correct, surely we have to match it pound for pound. If we were to take £80 million out of Glasgow's economy—because that is where that money is—we would have to replace it.
The proposed committee would be useful because it would deal with the broad range of issues. Whether we like it or not, the Scottish economy is, to some degree, underpinned by the black economy of the drugs trade. As I said to the minister this morning, if we do not have a proper and consistent audit of the black economy, how will we tackle the potential poverty that we would create by eradicating the drugs trade? Admittedly, we all know that that cannot happen tomorrow, next week or even within the next couple of years, but we could begin the process.
We believe that the best way in which to develop this afternoon's great debate is to institute a substance misuse strategy committee and to allow that committee to assist the Executive and the agencies on the ground. That would genuinely allow the Parliament to deal with the many issues around substance abuse and misuse in Scotland.
I recommend the SNP's amendment to members and ask them to vote for it.
In the same item of business
Resumed debate.
The Presiding Officer (Sir David Steel):
NPA
Question time has overrun and I must protect the debate because many people are still waiting to speak. The occupants of the chair this afternoon will have v...
Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab):
Lab
One of our most important tasks in addressing Scotland's drug problems is to acknowledge and learn from past mistakes. Earlier in the debate, Margo MacDonald...
Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
I want to broaden the debate and pick up on what Tommy Sheridan said. One of the biggest addictions in Scotland is, of course, alcohol, but the Deputy Minist...
Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD):
LD
A lot of good speeches were made this morning and their tenor was, on the whole, constructive. I would like to refer briefly to four of those speeches. Richa...
Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP):
SNP
Does Mr Gorrie consider the use of cannabis to be alongside the use—or misuse as I see it—of alcohol and nicotine?
Donald Gorrie:
LD
I have signed Margo MacDonald's motion about holding an inquiry into cannabis use. My serious, lofty colleagues tell me that that is not viewed with favour, ...
Kate MacLean (Dundee West) (Lab):
Lab
We have had a reasonably interesting debate today and it is obvious that no one in the chamber is not aware of the problems that are caused by drugs. I will ...
Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP):
SNP
I welcome this debate. It is interesting that we are having to address what we mean when we talk about the drugs problem, because numerous issues have been r...
Ms MacDonald:
SNP
Does Fiona Hyslop agree that the terminology that she used, with all due respect, can be confusing? The person who makes a profit from selling drugs is not s...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
I think that Margo MacDonald pre-empted some of my comments. A lot of money that is circulating in communities is drug related. The Scottish Drugs Forum's sh...
Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con):
Con
I apologise for not being in the chamber this morning. My absence was due to personal reasons. Irrespective of whether the motion is accepted as it stands or...
Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP):
SSP
Phil mentioned that rehab is not a cheap option. Does he agree that it is better value for money than spending money on enforcement? All observers agree that...
Phil Gallie:
Con
There is a balance to be struck. We need the enforcement, but we also need the rehab. This morning, my colleague Mary Scanlon made a suggestion about the fut...
Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab):
Lab
In many ways, I would rather not have had to speak in today's debate. I would rather that we lived in a society without the misuse of drugs. Unfortunately, t...
Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP):
SNP
We have had a good debate and I take on board what has been said, particularly by Christine Grahame, about alcohol abuse—I hope that the Executive will also ...
Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab):
Lab
Last year, the Justice and Home Affairs Committee heard from the Scottish prison chiefs that drugs are now the No 1 problem in our prisons. During our visit ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Patricia Ferguson):
Lab
We will now move to the closing sections of the debate. Seven members were not called in that section of the debate, but I should say that we make a note of ...
Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD):
LD
This has been a welcome and necessary debate because all drugs, including alcohol, are central to some of the biggest problems in Scotland today. I begin by ...
David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con):
Con
As others have said, today's debate is long overdue. Drug misuse is a problem that affects each and every person in Scotland. The people of Scotland surely e...
Ms MacDonald:
SNP
What David Mundell has just said illustrates perfectly a general point that SNP members are making—that we must consider the abuse of substances other than "...
David Mundell:
Con
I absolutely agree with that.Let us dispel the myth that anything serious can be done about drug misuse and substance misuse without each and every one of us...
Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
As others have said, today's debate has been carried out in a more honest way than has previously been the case in Scotland. We have heard different approach...
Mrs McIntosh:
Con
I have no hesitation in accepting that many people use that phrase. My main concern is that the phrase conveys the wrong impression. I do not doubt Mr Quinan...
Mr Quinan:
SNP
Lyndsay exemplifies the failures in this debate in recent years. She does not want to refer to recreational drug use, but she does not use ecstasy. Those who...
Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
I do not wish us to get bogged down in semantics, but I feel that we are discussing the fact that somebody who steals a car to drive it round a built-up area...
Mr Quinan:
SNP
I accept that Brian feels differently—that is fine, but I have made my point. If we do not begin to understand the people who have that view, and the termino...
John Young (West of Scotland) (Con):
Con
I lodged a written question to Susan Deacon on how much drug-related illnesses cost the national health service. In her reply, she said that no calculation w...
Mr Quinan:
SNP
Let us get back to the crux of the matter. The SNP calls for a substance misuse strategy committee—not to criticise what the Executive intends to do, but to ...
The Deputy Minister for Community Care (Iain Gray):
Lab
We have had a wide-ranging and constructive debate, which does not surprise me because we know that there is a genuine desire to address the problem across t...