We welcome the launch of Preventing Harm, Promoting Recovery, Scotland’s Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan 2026-2035 that is underpinned by a compassionate, evidence based and human rights informed approach. This strategy builds upon the approach already set out in the National Mission – an approach we believe is the right [...]
Turning Point Scotland has released Five Asks of the next Scottish Government, which if actioned, the leading social care charity believes would transform the delivery of social care services. Turning Point Scotland provides high-quality services like this across the country in the sectors of Alcohol and Other Drugs, Homelessness and [...]
We cannot ignore the fact that the majority of people who die from an alcohol-specific death also live in the most deprived areas of Scotland, despite high levels of alcohol consumption amongst those in more affluent areas. There is no doubt that larger structural forces are at play which have [...]
Last year, when Scotland’s drug related death statistics were published, we shared our frustration, our disappointment, that despite three years of a National Mission, an unprecedented investment and the declaration of a public health emergency, people were still dying. Now we’re another year on, and more lives have been lost. It [...]
Turning Point Scotland submitted a response to Scottish Affairs Committee (SAC) inquiry on the Safer Consumption Pilot Facility. Some key points of the response included: To read in more detail about our response, click the link below. [...]
Turning Point Scotland have prepared a summary of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill. We share this SWOT analysis to give a broader perspective to the Bill and to support a nuanced and informed consideration of its proposals. The SWOT can be [...]
We understand that Douglas Ross MSP will publish an updated Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill on Wednesday. Turning Point Scotland responded to the consultation on the draft Bill in January 2022, which at that point aimed to We carefully considered our response to the proposals, because while we welcomed [...]
We welcome this long-awaited statement by the Lord Advocate, and agree with the position taken that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute anyone using a Safer Consumption Facility (SCF) for possession. We hope this statement, alongside calls from the Scottish Drug Forum for greater urgency to this [...]
Today, on International Overdose Awareness Day, the Home Affairs Committee (HAC) at the House of Commons has called for drug law reform and a public health approach to drug use. In July the Scottish Government published ‘A Caring, Compassionate and Human Rights Informed Drug Policy for Scotland’, calling for decriminalisation [...]
At Turning Point Scotland we have been calling for drug law reform. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is outdated and prevents us from being able to do some of the evidenced-based work that we know will save lives. This includes establishing Safe Consumption Facilities in key areas impacted by [...]