Clash in parliament over drug dealers – Labour’s Anas Sarwar and First Minister John Swinney.
By Bill Heaney
People selling poison to their communities are being given the green light to continue to destroy lives “because First Minister John Swinney and his tired Government cannot run a court system that sends drug dealers to prison,” Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar told the Scottish Parliament today.
He said: “Promises have not been fulfilled, and the families who have been left behind deserve justice, not excuses. Shamefully, new figures show that, in the past three years, 573 charges of drug dealing had to be dropped because the cases were time barred before reaching court.
“Hundreds of people who were accused of drug dealing simply walked free. They evaded justice not because they were found innocent but because of the Government’s incompetence.
“Can John Swinney understand why people will be so angry when they learn that, despite one life being lost to drugs every seven hours in Scotland, hundreds of drug dealers are walking free?”
Mr Sarwar added: “Today, members will vote on the Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill at stage 1. Scottish Labour will support the bill. Six years ago, the Scottish National Party declared a drug deaths emergency. However, six years on, lives are still being lost, families are still grieving and a generation has been failed.
“In the first six months of this year alone, 607 people died from suspected drug overdoses—that is one life lost every seven hours.
“When it comes to recovery, the picture is just as bleak. The SNP has not delivered the promised rehabilitation beds. Even more shamefully, 77 per cent of areas report being unable to access rehab spaces because they do not have the money that they need from the SNP Government. Rehab beds are lying empty in the middle of a drug deaths emergency.
“Six years into this emergency, why are beds being left empty, and why are Scots not getting the treatment that they need if they are to recover?”
“We made a commitment to establish 1,000 publicly funded residential rehabilitation placements per year by 2025-26. The most recent Public Health Scotland publication shows that there were 984 confirmed records of individuals having started such placements in 2022-23.
“We have made £38 million available to eight projects across Scotland to provide additional residential rehabilitation beds. The latest published figures report a rise in capacity of 88 beds, giving a total of 513 in September 2024, and there has been further expansion since then.
“I assure Mr Sarwar, first, of the importance of that endeavour and, secondly, of the practical steps that have been taken to implement the commitments that we have given, and that we will continue to implement.”
He added: “I will look at other data. As the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs [Angela Constance] reported to Parliament last Thursday, our prisons are incredibly congested, in many cases with individuals who have been convicted and sentenced for long periods of time as a consequence of their drug-related activities.
Scotland’s prison system is absolutely full of individuals, many of whom have been imprisoned because of their drug-related activity, said First Minister.
“Our prison system and the Scottish Prison Service are wrestling admirably with the congestion that is caused by the many people involved in the organised crime that underpins the drug issues.
“I know that the Crown and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service are working incredibly hard, and in an incredibly focused way, to ensure that those who perpetrate illegal drug activity in our society are brought to justice, and that many of them are.”
“This Government has lost control: 607 lives have been lost in just six months, which is one every seven hours; 573 drug supply charges have gone unpunished; and there is still not enough access to treatment or residential rehab for those who want to recover.
“The truth is that John Swinney’s approach is failing both victims and communities. Dealers slip through the cracks, people die while they wait for help, and families lose loved ones and are left without hope.
“It has been six years since the Government declared an emergency, but Scotland still leads Europe on the figures for drug deaths. John Swinney has abandoned both justice and recovery. Is it not the case that we will never get to grips with Scotland’s drug deaths emergency while he and the SNP stay in charge?”
“I have put on the record the issues concerning the expansion of rehabilitation placements, and the fact that the progress that we committed to is being achieved.
“We have supported the delivery of the first safer consumption room. Based on the evidence that is available to us, we know that the Thistle has saved lives as a consequence of that intervention. We have expanded the roll-out of naloxone, which is resulting in a significant reduction of death and injury to individuals who use drugs.
“I recognise that the level of drug deaths is far, far too high. In the past year, we have seen a 13 per cent decrease in the number of such deaths in Scotland, but we must maintain absolute vigilance and focus to ensure that we continue to make progress.
“Finally, on the issue of criminal justice, our prison system is absolutely full of individuals, many of whom have been imprisoned because of their drug-related activity, so it is quite simply wrong for Mr Sarwar to suggest that people are not being brought to justice for their criminal activity. That will remain the focused priority of the Scottish Government.”
- While parliament was in session today, three people arrested and charged in connection with drug offences in West Dunbartonshire
Two men and a woman have been arrested and charged in connection with drug offences in Clydebank.
Around 9.10am on Wednesday, 8 October, 2025, officers executed warrants at properties on Graham Avenue and Vanguard Street in Clydebank. Cocaine, heroin and cannabis with an estimated street value of £5,690 was recovered.
Two men, aged 40 and 41 and one woman aged 39 were arrested and charged in connection and released on undertaking to appear at Dumbarton Sheriff Court at a later date.