Drugs helpline aimed at user safety to be launched

A free phone helpline where staff stay on the line with people while they are using drugs is to launch in Scotland.

The idea behind the scheme is to provide a way to raise the alarm if a user overdoses.

It is being trialled in Glasgow, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire before being rolled out across the country.

More than 1,300 people died of drug misuse in Scotland last year, with the country seeing a record number of deaths for the seventh year in a row.

The Never Use Alone phoneline will be run by the charity We Are With You, which says it will focus only on the safety of users.

The charity's executive director Andrew Horne told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "People can phone, if they are on their own, just as they are about to use. If they become unresponsive in any shape or form, we will alert the ambulance service.

"It will work for people who have a level of safe regard, in terms of their own wellbeing, and who have access to a mobile phone. It's not going to work for everybody.

"It's just another innovation to try to stop the awful epidemic of drug deaths."

The latest annual figures showed there were 1,339 drug deaths in Scotland last year - an increase of 75 from the 1,264 recorded the previous year.

It means Scotland continues to have by far the highest drug death rate recorded by any country in Europe.

And its rate is more than three-and-a-half times that of England and Wales.

The Never Use Alone helpline (0808 801 0690) has been backed with £100,000 from the Scottish government and ministers say it is the first phone service of its kind in Europe.

Drugs policy minister Angela Constance said the scheme would "undoubtedly play a part in tackling Scotland's drug deaths crisis".

She added: "Many of those people who have lost their life while using drugs were alone at the time and I encourage people to take advantage of this service to help them stay safe.

"While backing this service, we are also continuing to work to overcome existing legal barriers to implement safe consumption rooms in Scotland."

Senior medical professionals have previously said Scotland should introduce "safe consumption rooms" to tackle a record number of drug deaths

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) wants the Scottish and UK governments to seriously consider decriminalising drug possession.