Our Manifesto
Find out about our priorities for the next government
A National Mission for Change:
Putting People, Evidence and Rights at the Heart of Scotland’s Drug Policy
Our manifesto sets out what the next Scottish Parliament must do to reduce harm, save lives and build a system that is honest, humane, and grounded in public health.
introduction
In 2021, the Scottish Government launched a National Mission to reduce drug-related deaths, recognising that responsibility rests first and foremost with government.
Despite some progress, more than 4,500 people have lost their lives to drugs since 2021 – leaving behind devastated families, grieving communities and a country still struggling to confront a decades-long public health crisis.
With the 2026 Scottish Parliament election approaching, this manifesto sets out what must happen next and calls on all political parties to commit to delivering the bold, sustained, transformational change that Scotland urgently needs.
OUR Priorities for the next Scottish Government
1. Lead with courage, evidence and compassion: expand and mainstream harm reduction
We call for:
- A national network of multi-model safer drug consumption facilities, including accessible, non-clinical safer spaces for both injecting and inhalation wherever people are currently using substances outdoors or in unsafe locations – progressing toward a national expectation that every injecting or inhalation equipment provider can offer a safer environment
- Expanded drug checking services across Scotland, enabling people to understand and make informed decisions on what they are using – an essential tool in a volatile and changing drug market
- Legal access to safer inhalation equipment, including pipes, recognising the rapidly shifting stimulant landscape and the need for simple but effective harm-reduction tools
- A renewed and sustained national commitment to naloxone – exploring opportunities to innovate and continuing to expand reach, remove barriers, strengthen community distribution, and embed provision fully across justice, housing and emergency services
- Expand alcohol-specific harm reduction, including wider access to brief interventions, peer and community-based support, managed alcohol approaches, and services that reduce immediate risk, improve health and stability for people experiencing alcohol-related harm
- A modernised treatment and rehabilitation system, adaptable to new drug trends and far more flexible to people’s needs – including stronger integration of the third-sector providers whose expertise and innovation already enhance NHS provision
- People with living and lived experience at the centre of service design, from initial concept through delivery and evaluation
2. Put people first by embedding rights, tackling stigma and placing living and lived experience at the heart of all policy decisions
We call on all bodies designing, delivering, and monitoring drug and alcohol services to:
- Adopt and fully embed the Charter of Rights for People Affected by Substance Use into policy, practice and performance monitoring
- Ensure people with living and lived experience lead decision-making and are not merely consulted
- Challenge stigma at every level, including political debate, media engagement, and public communications
- Invest in public education to shift attitudes, recognising that how society views people who use substances shapes whether people live or die
3. Build a resilient, valued and sustainable workforce by ending short-term funding and supporting staff wellbeing
We call for:
- An end to short-term, stop–start funding, replaced with long-term, secure investment that allows planning, stability and innovation
- A national workforce wellbeing commitment, including access to high-quality supervision, coaching and mentoring, mental-health support, reflective practice and trauma-informed organisational cultures
- Fair pay, career development, and recognition of the third sector’s essential role, ensuring parity with NHS workforce standards
- A national workforce strategy that recognises retention and staff wellbeing as central to improving outcomes for people who use substances
A supported workforce provides the best possible support for people – this must be recognised as a core public health intervention in its own right.
4. Take action now to protect the next generation – with long-term strategies that transcend parliamentary cycles
We call for prevention strategies that:
- Are long-term, multi-decade commitments, protected from political cycles
- Work across government, recognising that people who use substances are part of every policy area – not a separate “other” group. Housing, justice, education, employment, social security and mental health all shape the landscape of harm
- Prioritise early intervention, youth services and whole-community approaches that build resilience and reduce inequality
- Embed substance use within wider anti-poverty, housing and mental-health strategies, ensuring no policy area passes responsibility elsewhere
- Provide clear frameworks for local partnerships to implement prevention approaches with consistency and accountability
5. Be bold. Decriminalise people
Decriminalisation would:
- Remove a major barrier to seeking help, particularly for people who fear punishment, child-protection consequences, housing insecurity and loss of employment
- Reduce stigma by shifting public understanding away from blame and toward care, compassion and evidence-based public health
- Enable services to reach people earlier, preventing crises, hospitalisation and avoidable deaths
- Free up police and court resources to focus on serious crime and community safety, rather than punishing vulnerability
- Align Scotland with international best practice, where decriminalisation has been associated with reductions in drug-related deaths, infections and long-term harm
But decriminalisation alone is not enough.
As long as drugs are supplied through unregulated criminal markets, people remain exposed to unsafe products, unpredictable strength, contamination and exploitation. Removing punishment without addressing supply leaves the most dangerous aspects of the system intact.
That is why decriminalisation must be the foundation of a wider shift toward a public-health–led, regulated approach – one that prioritises safety, harm reduction and accountability over prohibition and punishment. A regulated framework allows for control over quality, strength and access, replaces criminal control with public oversight, and enables evidence-based interventions that actually reduce harm.
Why this matters now
As we approach the next Scottish Parliament elections, the message is clear: we cannot become complacent, and we cannot slow down. The next parliamentary term will bring a significant number of new MSPs – and with that comes a rare and meaningful opportunity to reinforce and accelerate Scotland’s shift toward compassionate, evidence-based and rights-led policy, ensuring that people with living and lived experience genuinely shape decisions at every level.
Show your support for our five priorities by
1. Reading and sharing our manifesto
To read Scottish Drugs Forum’s full manifesto please clink the download button for a full digital PDF
2. Posting on social media
Show your support for our manifesto by downloading the supporter graphic and sharing it on your social channels.
