Drug And Alcohol Chief Calls For End To 30-Year Cash Crisis

The head of the Edniburgh’s alcohol and drugs agency today called for urgent investment to end 30 years of under-funding of support services. Former deputy chief constable Tom Wood wants to see alcohol workers employed at all of the city’s 29 drugs agencies.

He says that because the vast majority of drug users also have alcohol problems there should be an integrated treatment system.

And he wants specialist staff who deal with alcohol problems to be stationed within all 29 of the Capital’s drug agencies.

The annual cost of employing specialist staff or retraining existing staff to “multi-skill” is likely to run to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

His comments came after statistics showing that people with alcohol problems need to wait on average eight weeks before getting treatment from an agency – double the time drug users often wait.

They also came just days after the council and NHS Lothian withdrew their financial support for the establishment of a drunk tank in the city.

Mr Wood, who chairs Action on Alcohol and Drugs In Edinburgh, said: “It is unacceptable. We want the waiting times to be much smaller and we are working on that. We are trying to overcome a legacy of more than 30 years of a lack of attention to alcohol and drugs.”

Lothians MSP Kenny McAskill, also the SNP’s justice spokesman, said: “Mr Wood’s proposed solution is eminently sensible because there is clearly a correlation between drugs and drink.”