SNP calls for drugs to be decriminalised

It’s Humza Yousaf’s 100th day in office today. So what better way to mark this milestone than with a fresh clash with Westminster? A policy paper put out by the Scottish government this morning calls for the decriminalisation of all drugs for personal use. Drugs are a reserved matter but Holyrood ministers want that changed to allow people found in possession to be ‘treated and supported rather than criminalised and excluded’. Scotland would only be able to implement this approach if the UK government granted a section 30 order: an opt-out from the reserved power laws in the Scotland Act. Other proposals that the SNP want include law changes to allow the introduction of supervised drug consumption facilities.

‘No’ was the pithy reply offered by Andrew Bowie, the Scottish Tory MP and energy minister, when news of these demands broke. A variation of these words is likely to be the official UK government response to this strategy.