Scotland’s Public Health Emergency: What Can Be Learned from Drug Policies in Portugal, Switzerland and Iceland and How Could These be Used to Inform policy and Improve Drug Related Outcomes in Scotland?

• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Pyramid; Iceland
• Online Access: https://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/12978; https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12289/12978

In the last decade, Scotland has had some of the worst statistics on drug related death (DRD) in Europe, and a significant part of the population struggle with problematic drug use (PDU); this is a human issue and a public health emergency which the Scottish Government (SG) have failed to improve and have been widely criticised for. Examining relevant policies already in place in Scotland as well as those in Portugal, Switzerland, and Iceland will give an understanding to better inform strategies to stop premature deaths of these individuals and reduce PDU. A desk-based study is performed to review the available standout policies in place in all four countries to address the issues of PDU and DRD. Friedan’s Pyramid, a conceptual framework, is utilised to examine the policies and their effectiveness on reducing these problems by following the tiers of socio-economic influence, preventative interventions, and human behaviour. Current policies in place in all the countries have varying positive effects on DRD and PDU at an individual population level. Scotland requires further harm-reductionist policies to be implemented and strengthened to reduce PDU and DRD. It should aim to move away from a prohibitionist paradigm. Policies used in Portugal, Switzerland, and Iceland all have potential to be integrated into the current health system and their evidence-base suggests that they would be beneficial.