A student hopes to save lives by expanding a free drugs testing programme from Stirling University to Dundee – then the rest of Scotland.
In the past year there were 1,330 drug deaths in Scotland, the highest in Europe.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been under pressure to bring this number down after previously admitting she “took her eye off the ball”.
Student Andy Paterson, 25, believes breaking down the stigma around drug use and normalising drug testing could help tackle the social scandal.
‘This is not about accepting drug use’
Mr Paterson said drug use became a “normal thing” as people found a way to deal with the stress of lockdown.
The fourth year politics student started a campaign called Help Not Harm to change how drugs are handled at the university, including making drug testing kits available at the students’ union.
He said: “This is not about accepting drug use or encouraging it.
“It is about seeing a need to help people stay safe and it is about education and providing the right equipment.”
Those who use drugs can now pick up the kits to test what they are planning to take beforehand.
It is hoped using these kits will cut down on overdoses as people can see exactly what is in the drug, and how much, before they take it.
Following the success of the Help Not Harm project Mr Paterson submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament in an attempt to expand the scheme nationwide.
Too easy to overdose without testing
Mr Paterson said: “A lot of drugs right now, particularly MDMA and cocaine, are coming in more potent so they get cut up with other things.
“And what they are cut up with is dangerous, so we want to be able to show people what it has been cut with and just how potent it is.
“For example there was testing done on cocaine in Glasgow and it found it was cut with fentanyl which is a powerful opioid, 100 times more powerful than heroin.
“It is easy to overdose on that.
“But if you could do a test beforehand, you would know if it is dodgy.”
Breaking down the stigma on drug use
Mr Paterson – who is currently writing his dissertation on university drugs policy – hopes his petition will spark a national conversation on drug use.
MSPs have previously heard calls to change how it handles drugs policy, including calls for other measures such as drug consumption rooms to be introduced.
Mr Paterson said: “This is all about safety and making sure people who choose to do drugs can do it in as safe a way as possible.
“This is also important because you are 18 times more likely to die from a drugs overdose if you are from a deprived area.
“This is a massive issue in places like the Highlands and Aberdeen where drugs are much more prevalent.”
Progress on drug consumption rooms
Mr Paterson’s petition comes as the Scottish Government looks at the possibility of introducing drug consumption rooms.
These are healthcare facilities which are professionally supervised so drug users can take their drugs in a safe condition.
Audrey Nicoll, convener of Holyrood’s criminal justice committee, has written to the Crown Office asking them to update parliament on what progress is being made in this area.
The Aberdeen South and North Kincardine MSP added the government and Drugs Policy Minister Angela Constance had “worked very hard” on figuring out how drug consumption rooms would work in Scotland.
