 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 3632 in the name of Christine Grahame on ad-action. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put. Would those members who wish to speak in the debate please press the request to speak buttons now? I call on Christine Grahame to open the debate around seven minutes, please, Ms Grahame. Ms Grahame, I thought you would have known that you had to have your card in the slot. I will not blush. Mr Grahame. Deputy Presiding Officer, I would like to thank all members who signed my motion, allowing me to have this debate and in advance thank those who will be contributing. I also welcome representatives from ad-action to the public gallery. So what is ad-action? Until last year, frankly, I hadn't heard of this UK charity. I hadn't a clue. That was entirely my fault. However, I wonder how many colleagues were also and still in the dark about this organisation and the work that it does. Yet, ad-action is a leading UK drug, alcohol and mental health charity dealing with 75,000 people across 100 places in the UK and 23 sites across Scotland from Argyll and Bute to the Borders. It's aim is to support people in their recovery from addiction, recognising that drug and alcohol addictions are health and wellbeing issues and not an issue for the criminal justice system. And we all know there are far too many in our prisons who have landed there because of addictions and mental health issues. And while the prison staff and health staff there do their best, the question is should that man or woman be there in the first place? So how did I find out about ad-action? I am many of the most important things in life, quite by chance. I had put out a call for nominations from my local hero to be my guest at the opening of the session of Parliament. There were very worthy nominees but one stood out and it was from a letter from a woman who had recovered her life from alcohol addiction through contacting Rod Anderson who would be her support and someone who had been through that recovery himself. This is what that letter said and I quote. He not only saved my life, he transformed it beyond recognition. He gave my children a future. I'm not the only one, there are dozens of us. He performs miracles on a daily basis and saves the lives of many. For the first time in the history of the Borders, we now have a recovery community. After overcoming his own battle with alcohol using the support of ad-action, Rod decided to dedicate himself to saving lives. Recognising the difference Rod was making, ad-action chose to employ him as a substance misuse worker. My words aren't being justice to this selfless, unassuming man, so I'll share my personal story. A year ago I was an emotionally bankrupt, psychologically disturbed woman under the threat of being sectioned under the mental health act or facing anasbo due to the number of times emergency services that attended my address. I agreed to being admitted to a psychiatric unit. Now I am a dedicated mother attending college and contributing to society in a positive manner. His success in supporting others to overcome addiction created a need for him to create a recovery community. He spent his days off travelling all over Scotland searching for practical advice that would enable him to create what was now needed. His vision started as a recovery cafe which, after mere months, has become so much more. Rod created Serendipity, a charity that provides what our community needs. He has created a Serendipity board. We members now give the lifeline that Rod freely gave us to other addicts. Addiction will never provide cute fuzzy photo ops. Addiction will never be a sexy popular charity to date to. Addiction is real, gritty, shameful and illness which we pretend doesn't exist in our scenic, rural, pretty border towns. Rod gives inspirational quotes which reach the hearts of addicts. He freely gives a kind word, gentle hug or kick up the backside to us all. He will forever be my hero. I owe Rod a debt which can never be repaid." I was privileged that Rod accepted my invitation to be my local hero and I know that he will be embarrassed by the fuss, but I know that there are other Rod Andersons working for Addiction, supporting vulnerable people and helping them to recover their lives into something positive. I have since visited Addiction in Galashiels having praised Rod. It's a team effort, as they say, with a dedicated and professional team of workers complemented by volunteers, recovery champions and students, working hard to reduce harm and promote recovery with people affected by substance mischews. I hear some statistics from Borders at Addiction. Front-end intervention. Intervention in alcohol and drugs including injecting equipment provision each month. In the year nearly 70 new people with around 60 using the service each month. Naloxon saving lives emergency. In the year more than 100 kits supplied with more than 50 used in an emergency. Under planned care and referrals in the year more than 450 people, about three quarters on alcohol abuse, one quarter drugs, the vast majority seen within three weeks. Active caseload. Around 120 on the books at any time across the whole of the borders. Discharges. Nearly 50 per cent planned with many reduced or stopping their drugs or alcohol. They have mutual aid groups with three busy groups in Galashiels, Peebles and Hoik. In recovery activities, employability, people move to jobs, education or training. There is a volunteer programme certificated through Borders College, a women's group run jointly with the criminal justice services and a music group which meets fortnightly in Galashiels. While there is all this hiatus today of a possible general election, a general election definitely, we should remember that in the everyday world charities like Adaction simply get on with the job, helping and supporting those whose lives are falling apart. People who have far bigger problems on their mind than Brexit and whose lives are turned around thanks to Adaction, the staff and volunteers. Thank you. We now move to the open speeches and I call Rachel Hamilton to be followed by Colin Smith. Deputy Presiding Officer, I welcome this debate and I'm pleased to be joining Christine Grahame in recognising the good work carried out by Adaction, particularly the Galashiels site. Drug and alcohol addiction remains a serious issue in our communities. Adaction is a terrifying disease that, when it takes hold, has the ability to destroy the person and the lives of their family and friends as well. Adaction through its work fights addiction. It seeks to help people with addiction issues. It helps their families, their friends and communities for anyone who needs it's services when faced with addiction. Adaction started in 2004 and is now the largest provider of drug and alcohol support services in Scotland. It has the expertise in issues ranging from early years work, community recovery rehab, working with older people, harm reduction, education and employment. The work done by Adaction is vital for the lives of those who fight addiction and for their loved ones. Adaction is making an impact, 98 sites across the UK, 23 of which are in Scotland, including the site in Galashiels, supporting tens of thousands of people, including 1,000 families across the UK. One of those helped was project worker, as Christine Grahame mentioned, Rod Anderson from the Borders, wanting to give back to Adaction. He set up the Serendipity recovery cafe with the support of Adaction. In 2014, Mr Anderson became a recovery champion for Adaction Scotland, then became a full-time project worker. Mr Anderson is an example of the positive impact that Adaction makes to people's lives. Of course, his story is not the only success. But let's be realistic. Drug and alcohol misuse is not going away anytime soon. In Scotland, alcohol alone claims 22 lives a week and costs £3.5 billion each year. It highlights the crucial need for charities like Adaction, and also the mammoth task that charities face to fight this disease. A report from the Scottish Parliamentary Information Unit states that in Scotland, problem drug use is disproportionately high compared to England and other European countries. In the latest available data for 2015, there were over 700 drug-related deaths registered in Scotland. 73 per cent of drug-related deaths in 2015 were of individuals aged 35 and over, and that's despite drug use falling overall. However, Scottish Conservative research has shown that half of all Scotland's 14 health board areas support for alcohol and drug partnerships has fallen this year. It contradicts a promise from the Scottish Government that treatment would be maintained at existing levels. Although the Scottish Borders has seen an increase in these partnerships, the likes of Dumfries and Galloway have seen fun cuts by over 200,000 and Lanarkshire cut by almost 700,000. Furthermore, official statistics show that over 1,100 inmates were caught either taking drugs or administering them to others in 2016. That is a seven-year high. Substance use in our country's prisons is undermining any attempt being made to rehabilitate criminals and ensure that they are secure places for people to work. It's a bit of a tangent, but all of us agree that rehabilitation of offenders is critical for society, but this remains near impossible while drug-taking remains so prevalent. Tackling alcohol and drug misuse remains such a high and important issue in Scotland, and we need a focused attempt to tackle it. Working with local programmes rather than a blanket approach of substituting illegal drugs with methadone without any meaningful progress in treatment. Drug and alcohol damages and even destroys our communities. There is fantastic work being done in an effort to see its devastating impact eradicated, and I am fully supportive of those efforts. Efforts made by Adaction, with the likes of Rod Anderson involved. I wish both Adaction and Mr Anderson further success in his work. Colin Smyth, followed by Stuart McMillan. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I refer members to my register of interests where it states that I am a local councillor in Dumfries and Galloway? I can also thank Christine Grahame for tabling this motion and allowing the chamber the opportunity to celebrate the contribution of Adaction in our communities across Scotland. Christine Grahame highlights, particularly, the excellent work of the charity and the scenic, rural and pretty villages of the Scottish borders, quite rightly so. In the short period of time, I want to focus my comments on the work more to the west of the south of Scotland region, in particular in Dumfries and Galloway, although many of the challenges across what are largely rural areas are very similar indeed. I recently visited Adaction's Dumfries office, one of their 23 regional sites across Scotland, where I had the privilege of meeting with regional service manager Hugh Robertson. It's clear that Hugh is passionate about the work of Adaction and leads a dedicated team supporting people right across Dumfries and Galloway, working in close partnership with the NHS, Alcohol and Drug Support South West Scotland and the local social work department. Few of the team that were in the office behind the charity's discrete front door when I visited, instead they were out in communities providing personalised support and help to the hundreds of people battling with drugs and alcohol addiction in the region. Adaction provides us support in a number of ways from individual face-to-face assessments to group sessions using mutual aid partnership meetings. They do that in an entirely non-judgmental and personalised manner, putting the goals of the service user first. The results are impressive. In the year to date from April 2016, Adaction has had 550 people in Dumfries and Galloway leave their service with 449 of those users attending at least one appointment. 292 or 64 per cent of service users achieved a planned and positive outcome, far exceeding the service's target of 40 per cent planned and positive outcome. Most of those benefiting from the service were, to me, a surprise self-referos, often turning to Adaction for support at a time of crisis, whether that's after a drug driving charge or sometimes after the breakdown of a marriage, making the challenge all the more difficult for the team at Adaction. Adaction was there for them in their time of need to use words to help them to find a person that, in many cases, their addictions had stolen from them. I was incredibly struck on my visit to learn that older people make up a growing number of those facing addictions. The proportion of all-male problem drug users in Scotland aged between 35 to 64 has increased from 43 per cent in 2009-10 to 51 per cent in 2012-13 and 73 per cent of drug-related deaths in 2015 or have individuals aged 35 or over. That group of older drug users is set to grow in size. That makes the recent decision by the Government to reduce direct funding for drug and alcohol treatment and support services all the more disappointing. In 2016-17, the allocation to NHS boards for alcohol and drugs partnerships was £53.89 million down from £69.2 million in 2015-16. In Dumfries and Galloway, that led to a cut in direct funding from £1.98 million to £1.53 million. Although health boards were asked to make this difference up, in Dumfries and Galloway, they were only able to find £234,000 of the £452,000 shortfall. That cut led to a 20 per cent reduction in funding for addiction in the region and, as a result, the team were reduced from 18 to 12. However, addiction continued to do a fantastic job right across Dumfries and Galloway. I want to once again thank Christine Grahame for bringing this issue to the chamber. I want to wish her action well as she celebrates her 50th year. In particular, I want to thank her for all the work that she does in Dumfries and Galloway and right across the south of Scotland. Thank you. I call Stuart McMillan to be followed by Ross Thompson. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I too welcome this debate and I congratulate Christine Grahame for securing the debate. I would also like to refer members to my register of interests as a member of the management board of the Moving On project in Inverclyde. I intend to touch upon some aspects of moving on in my speech. Christine Grahame's motion was helpful and a reminder of the addiction exhibition in Parliament in February. I spoke to the representative at the exhibition and was greatly impressed by how they are working to help many people in the areas at the cover. Addiction does not operate in Inverclyde, but we have a range of other organisations working with those with addictions. Whether it is addiction or other organisations, including Moving On, it is not an easy job and it is a job that is tough to undertake as many people with addictions live chaotic lifestyles. That affects everything from the person's health, their housing situation, their family life and also their social activity. The challenges are vast, but the rewards are immense when someone manages to turn their life around and leaves the life of addiction. This shows that working with people and treating them as individuals and also as human beings can actually work. As the motion states, addaction is the largest organisation that is kind. That is where the comparison with Moving On would end. Moving On is a small grassroots organisation that employs six people. They are a well-established local organisation and in the last five years 750 people have sought support. The staff that are moving on recognise it is impossible to help someone with that one great leap. It is the small steps that are required to move people forward. From a personal perspective, smaller organisations such as Moving On do not get the national recognition that they deserve. The smaller organisations do not have the larger staffing ability to promote their activity. I do not say that as a point of criticism of any organisation, but I am merely stating a fact. I welcome the promotion of organisations undertaking this type of work because it is crucial that the positive activity that is under way across Scotland is highlighted. We need to hear about the positive activity and work that is taking place to turn people's lives around. It is all too easy to highlight the negative situation regarding people with addictions. However, the positive work takes place. Addaction plays a part across Scotland. The total number of drugs deaths in 2015 was 706, including 16 in Inverclyde. Drugs deaths in Inverclyde have unfortunately doubled in the last 10 years and there were 33 alcohol-related deaths in 2015 in Inverclyde. Inverclyde is the second highest number of average deaths per 1,000 of the population from drugs and alcohol in Scotland in 2015. That gives members of this Parliament a picture of the challenge that we all face. I welcome the motion that we are awaiting today. I genuinely thank Christine Grahame for tabling the motion and for securing this debate today. I would also like to pass on my gratitude to Addaction and the many other organisations who work daily with addictions. The challenge is huge in trying to turn somebody's life around. Those workers who do that on a daily basis deliver they deserve to have a huge amount of credit and also the praise that they generally deserve. They deliver life-changing work which truly makes that positive difference to help our fellow citizens. Thank you very much. The last of the open speeches is Ross Thompson. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I would also like to thank Christine Grahame for bringing this debate this afternoon. We live in a time where fatal drug overdoses kill over twice as many people in the UK per year than road traffic accidents and where the mortality rate from drug poisoning is at its highest since records began. That puts a significant burden on our NHS to treat the consequences of drugs and on our police law in the face of a complex and ever-expanding network of distribution and consumption. In fact, I only read last Friday in the courier that Superintendent Derek McEwen from Police Scotland's 5th division said, it's only a matter of time before dangerous new legal highs become more widespread in Tayside and in the north-east which I represent. In these dark and challenging times the vital work of adaction has been a beacon of hope and optimism. Adaction has evolved over the last 50 years to develop a wide expertise in community, alcohol and drug addiction support and rehabilitation, bloodborne, virus treatment, bespoke, sexual health advice and education, employment and welfare issues too. Throughout its 50 years, adaction has held true to its core approach treating people with dignity and respect, putting individual needs at the heart of its work and an unwavering belief that addiction should never be allowed to cripple or end a life but that recovery is possible and indeed probable with the right framework of care and support. I have however been most struck by adaction's work with young people across the UK. Andrew was just 14 when he started taking cocaine and ecstasy as a means of combating his disorder syndrome. What began as a means of feeling more sociable and outgoing became a devastating addiction, which caused Andrew to suffer paranoid delusions, extreme agitation and palpitations. Young people just like Andrew often feel isolated and unable to talk to anyone about their problems. They do not wish to anger their parents or teachers nor do they want to feel embarrassed or ashamed amongst their friends and peers. This is where young addiction stepped in to provide support and treatment for Andrew, not just for his addiction but with practical advice and guidance on managing his Asperger syndrome. Andrew now works in an IT retailer, his confidence has grown vastly and he lives in a happy, stable and drug free life. I also want to take a moment to draw attention to the incredible work of young adaction Dundee, a successful partnership between adaction Dundee and NHS Corner, which targets young people aged between 11 and 18. The tragic stories of young people dying a result of drugs resonate with all of us in this chamber. We hear of new drugs emerging almost every week of so-called legal highs having devastating consequences, too. In response to this, I launched Aberdeen against legal highs and lodged motions in Aberdeen City Council to raise public awareness of the dangers of legal highs. I remain committed to combating the epidemic of legal highs into making our streets safe and drug free and I commend the fantastic work of adaction in contributing to this cause. Deputy Presiding Officer, the work of adaction in Scotland and across the United Kingdom is providing specialist advice in early intervention programmes in schools and youth clubs to ensure that there are endless lives over the years. It has become clear to me after reading Andrew's story and hearing the many other powerful contributions in this chamber today that adaction is more than just an addiction charity. They provide support for those who have none, hope for those who think all is lost and a future for those who are lost. I now call Aileen Campbell to respond to the debate around seven minutes, please minister. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Like other members this evening I'm also grateful to Christine Grahame for bringing in this debate and I'm pleased to be able to close it on behalf of the Government. Like many members here, I was also able to take time to visit the adaction exhibition and hear first hand about their work at the Parliament tonight. I'm pleased that the motion has also attracted cross-party support and the commitment in the chamber to ensure that some of our most vulnerable people access the care and support that they need and that this is delivered within the context of a recovery-oriented system of care. I think also though that the contribution from Christine Grahame was incredibly powerful and showed the transformative impact a person-centred approach can bring. Rod Anderson spoke about who works in the border sounds like an incredibly special person creating the border's first recovery community and hearing that those he has helped articulated as giving their children a future or saving their life shows how lives can be and have been turned around. If people are given the right help if their addiction is seen as a health problem and if the stigma can be removed. Christine Grahame is also correct to point out that addiction doesn't just happen in the gritty urban areas of our country and that it happens in our remote and rural communities too and therefore we need to take a national approach and we also need to recognise that it's not an issue that we can simply brush under the carpet. Our drug strategy, the Rotic Recovery is a framework that has at its heart an aspiration to support and help those facing drug use problems and their families and to see that through a health lens. And while the strategy remains robust and relevant when it was launched with cross-party support, nevertheless the challenges and context of tackling substance misuse have changed. We do, as others have pointed out this evening, an increasingly ageing cohort of older drug users who require particular support to help keep them safe. Additionally, the challenges posed by new psychoactive substances have been well documented in this chamber as we undertake a cross-party approach to tartan them. We continue to work with the drug and alcohol sector to look afresh at how we might make further progress on addiction issues and the partnership for action on drugs in Scotland, which I chair, is currently providing its thoughts on the extent to which we need a refresh to our thinking while retaining the ambition set out in the road to recovery. I'm delighted that Andrew Horne is incredibly grateful to him and others for their energy, their commitment and their candor, which is informed by years of experience in delivering high-quality drug, alcohol and mental health services to those that need them. Will the minister take it? Christine Grahame, I'm delighted that you've mentioned the Scottish leadership on addiction, but can I invite the minister? I know that your diary is very busy, but to see hands-on experience, the teamwork at addiction in Gala Shields is very much, so we've mentioned Rod Anderson a lot. It is a team, and I think you might find that useful. Aileen Campbell? Absolutely, and again, when the adaction were here in the Parliament, it was good to get a chance to speak to Andrew and to hear firsthand some of the really transformative work that they are taking across the country in lots of the different settings that they have a footprint. I will be interested in visiting Gala Shields in the Borders, particularly as it's been so instrumental in creating that first recovery community in the Borders. Again, I think that that will be helpful in ensuring that people recognise that addiction issues don't just again the point that you made in your contribution don't just happen in urban centres, it actually happens across the country, and we need to make sure that that is felt and heard loudly by people right across the country. Of course, addiction isn't just around drug issues, it also includes issues around alcohol, and on alcohol we have taken bold action to tackle and reduce the damage that it causes through our alcohol framework for action, which includes a package of over 40 measures to reduce alcohol-related harm. We have made progress in recent years with alcohol-related harm reducing, however, harm is still at an acceptably high levels, and with 22 alcohol-related deaths and 170 alcohol-related hospital admissions a week, we need to do more. We are refreshing our framework and will build on the progress that we have made so far on that. Given the link between affordability, consumption and harm, addressing price is also an important element of any long-term strategy to tackle alcohol misuse, so we remain absolutely committed to implementing minimum unit pricing that will tackle the cheap high-strength alcohol that does so much damage in all of our communities. We are going back and returning to action, and action do have a strong reputation for delivering high-quality services embedded lived experience and user involvement in their governance and in their service delivery. Andrew Horne, equalling Rob and the team down in Gallashield has been supporting some work at a national level to ensure that those with lived experience can be heard as we develop policy approaches at a national level, because we must never be complacent and always strive to improve the quality of services and seek to bring consistency across Scotland. Action is a national organisation, but I am aware of the range of local, statutory and third sector services that operate right across the country who provide much-needed support to those who have a substance misuse addiction. The development of national standards of care set out in our quality principles set out a clear set of outcomes for alcohol and drug partnerships and a shared statement on workforce development remained critical as part of the framework within which excellence and local delivery can flourish. There remains, however, a place for innovation and I was delighted that my officials recently wrote to action to confirm that it has been successful in securing funding from the Scottish Government for a project that will pilot and test the opportunities presented by digital technology in order to reach out and engage with clients where this is appropriate. Christine Grahame's motion, however, invites us to tackle problem substance use as a health and social care issue rather than a criminal justice one. While there is a place for the criminal justice system, the aspiration to divert people away from criminal sanction at the earliest opportunity is to be welcomed and should continue, and we should build upon that with however we move forward our drugs policy strategy and approach in our country. It must be managed well and I am aware of many innovative and successful schemes here in Scotland and elsewhere that those who are offending behaviour is exacerbated by addiction will be supported in a person-centred treatment pathway. That principle should be true irrespective of whether someone is in prison or not and I recently had the opportunity to offer views on that matter to the Health and Sport Committee in looking at prisoner healthcare and I look forward to seeing their conclusions. Likewise, this Government made a decision in November 2012 to transfer the responsibility for healthcare and the Scottish Prison Service to the NHS for the very reason set out in the motion to ensure that those who spend time in prison can expect the same level of care and attention of those receiving help in the community. The responsibility for drugs policy moved in April 26 from the justice portfolio to within my health portfolio demonstrating this Government's commitment to look at the issue of substance misuse through a different lens and to address it in the wider context of the public health challenges that we face. To conclude, I want to further congratulate and thank Addaction and those like them for all they do and renew my commitment to tackle this problem in a fresh way drawing on the expertise and perspectives available, including those with that lived experience because Christine Grahame is right as we debate Brexit and prepare for another election groups like Addaction are saving lives and giving children a future and providing much-needed support. We need to continue to look at addiction in order to continue to make the progress that we need and our country needs to ensure that public health in Scotland can ensure that everybody, regardless of the health issues that they face, can get their fair chance to flourish. Thank you. This meeting is closed.