Could Project Adder Help Tackle Scotland's Overdose Crisis?

Key Highlights :

1. Drug charity workers say a scheme tackling addiction and crime in parts of England could turn the tide on Scotland’s overdose crisis.

2. The call for a re-think follows our investigation of how Project Adder is making a difference in Blackpool – a city with similar population and problems as Dundee.

3. Scotland still has the worst death rate in the UK and anywhere in Europe.

4. There are lessons to be learned from the way Adder has changed how officers interact with drug users.

5. Opposition parties have criticised the Scottish Government for cutting rehab programmes in previous years, which they say led to an increase in deaths.

6. The Scottish Drugs Forum believes a wider range and better quality of treatment is needed in Scotland.

7. Scottish drugs policy minister Elena Whitham said: “We absolutely value lived experience, whether it be by investing £13m in third-sector and grassroots organisations, establishing lived and living experience panels across the country, or expanding the addiction workers training programme, ensuring the workforce is enriched by peer workers and volunteers with lived experience.”

     Scotland is facing a growing overdose crisis, with drug deaths reaching record levels in 2021 and the death rate still 2.7 times higher than in England and Wales. In a bid to turn the tide, campaigners are calling on the Scottish Government to look again at Project Adder – a scheme that has been making a real difference in places such as Blackpool.

     Project Adder brings police, support groups, and former drug users together to tackle addiction and organised crime higher up the chain. It has been credited with reducing drug deaths in Blackpool, a city with similar population and problems as Dundee, and is now being proposed as a potential solution for Scotland's overdose crisis.

     Annemarie Ward, from addiction charity Favor UK, said Scotland is unable to tell everyone battling addiction that treatment is an option for them because there are not enough placements available. She believes Project Adder could make a significant difference to the number of drug deaths in Scotland, but the Scottish Government has rejected it.

     Austin Smith, head of policy at the Scottish Drugs Forum, agrees there are lessons to be learned from the way Adder has changed how officers interact with drug users. In some Adder locations in English cities, police have apps installed in their phones that they can use to take a drug user's details and refer them immediately to services.

     The Scottish Drugs Forum believes a wider range and better quality of treatment is needed in Scotland, with a smaller proportion of people in treatment than in England. The Scottish Government is boosting residential rehab capacity by 40%, and has green-lit plans for new 'safe' drug consumption facilities.

     If the Scottish Government is serious about tackling the overdose crisis, it should look again at Project Adder and the potential it has to help save lives. With the right support and resources, it could make a real difference in places such as Dundee.

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