Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill
Douglas Ross MSP has introduced this Member’s Bill. It will establish a right in law to treatment for addiction for anyone in Scotland who is addicted to either alcohol, or drugs or both.
The Bill is at Stage 1
Contents
Overview
Douglas Ross MSP has introduced this Member’s Bill.
It will allow people who have been diagnosed by a health professional as being addicted to either alcohol, or drugs, or both to be provided with:
- a treatment determination
- the treatment that is appropriate for them
The treatment must be made available to them within three weeks of the treatment determination being made.
If the health professional thinks that no treatment is appropriate, or that the treatment which the person wants is not appropriate, then the health professional must tell the person in writing why they think this.
If the person does not agree with the health professional’s decision, they can get a second opinion from a different health professional.
The Scottish Government must report on its progress towards providing treatment to people addicted to either alcohol, or drugs, or both, every year. The report should be given to Parliament and published by the Government.
The report needs to include certain statistical information for each health board area.
The Scottish Government must prepare a code of practice to help the bodies which help implement the Bill know what they need to do. These are bodies like health boards and local authorities.
Read more about what this Bill does in the explanatory notes (138KB, pdf) posted 14 May 2024
Why the Bill was created
Douglas Ross MSP believes that any person who has been diagnosed as being addicted to either alcohol, or drugs, or both, should have the legal right to access treatment to help them to recover from that addiction.
In 2022, 1,051 people died due to drug misuse, and there were 1,276 alcohol-related deaths in the same year. Mr Ross believes that these figures are too high and show that that there is a problem in Scotland with addiction to drugs and alcohol. Mr Ross also believes that this problem is made worse by the length of waiting times for some types of treatment, including residential rehabilitation.
Mr Ross believes that a rights-based system should be created. This would give individuals the right to treatment without delay information and involvement in their treatment. Mr Ross also believes this would lead to progress in tackling addiction to alcohol, or drugs, or both.
Read more about why this Bill has been created in the policy memorandum (263KB, pdf) posted 14 May 2024