The Scottish Liberal Democrats have demanded action after it emerged prosecutions for cocaine possession in Fife more than doubled in a year.
Answers to parliamentary questions lodged by the party’s justice spokesman Robert Brown revealed a leap from 12 to 25 between 2007-08 and 2008-09. Figures for the last financial year are not yet available.
They also revealed the total number of drug possession prosecutions rose from 450 to 490 during the same period in Tayside.
The total prosecution figures were almost static in Fife, showing only a slight rise from 168 to 170.
In Scotland as a whole the number of people prosecuted for possession of heroin increased by 17.5%, while cocaine possession rose by 27%.
Mr Brown described the statistics as “extremely worrying.”
He said, “There are particularly worrying hikes in offence numbers in certain part of the country. Cocaine proceedings have more than tripled in Central and doubled in Fife.
“Apart from the criminal aspect, drug addiction is a substantial health risk to those involved and causes huge misery to families and local communities.
“This has got to be tackled at the beginning by doing our best to support young people to avoid drugs.
“Early intervention is the most effective way of turning people away from a drug-fuelled life of crime.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said the prosecution of individual drug cases was a matter for the Crown Office.
“Drugs wreck lives and communities and we welcome the efforts by our police forces and courts in identifying those responsible for peddling illegal drugs and bringing them to justice,” he said.
“Scotland is making significant progress in getting drugs off our streets but we are clear that enforcement alone will not be successful and it is important that there are also appropriate prevention and treatment measures in place.
“That is why our national drugs strategy The Road to Recovery has been reinforced with record investments in frontline drug treatment services.
“Early intervention and effective education is also key to tackling drug misuse and that is why we are investing significant resources in substance misuse education.”