The Scottish Government has called for the decriminalisation of all drugs for personal use.

Ministers in Scotland want the UK Government to agree to proposals that they claim will save lives.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Scotland’s drugs policy minister Elena Whitham called for a public health approach to tackling the drugs crisis.

She said decriminalisation would mean people found in possession of drugs were “treated and supported rather than criminalised and excluded”.

Drug laws are currently reserved to Westminster.

Whitham urged the UK Government to either devolve the powers on drugs to Holyrood or back proposals to decriminalise them. Advertisement

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said Rishi Sunak has no plans to alter his “tough stance” on drugs.

The proposals were laid out in a new Scottish Government paper on drug law reform. The Scottish Government wants the laws amended to allow for the introduction of safe consumption rooms.STV News The Scottish Government wants the laws amended to allow for the introduction of safe consumption rooms.

Other proposals include immediate legislative changes to allow Scottish ministers to implement harm reduction measures such as supervised drug consumption facilities, and increased access to the life-saving drug naloxone.

Drug consumption rooms allow people to inject drugs with supervision. Proponents say they have been tested around the world and have been shown to work well.

But they have been opposed by the UK Government which blocked an attempt to roll them out in Glasgow.

She said: “These are ambitious and radical proposals, grounded in evidence, that will help save lives. Advertisement

“We want to create a society where problematic drug use is treated as a health, not a criminal matter, reducing stigma and discrimination and enabling the person to recover and contribute positively to society.

“While we know these proposals will spark debate, they are in line with our public health approach and would further our national mission to improve and save lives.

“We are working hard within the powers we have to reduce drug deaths, and while there is more we need to do, our approach is simply at odds with the Westminster legislation we must operate within.

“These policies could be implemented by the Scottish Government through the devolution of further, specific powers to Holyrood including the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 – or through independence.

“An immediate way for these policies to be enacted would be for the UK Government to use its existing powers to change its drug laws.

“Scotland needs a caring, compassionate and human rights informed drugs policy, with public health and the reduction of harm as its underlying principles, and we are ready to work with the UK Government to put into practice this progressive policy.”

Asked whether the Prime Minister was likely to grant the Scottish Government’s request, his official spokesman said: “No. Whilst I haven’t seen those reports I think I’m confident enough to say that there are no plans to alter our tough stance on drugs.”

Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves also ruled out the policy. Advertisement

“The short answer is no,” she told journalists during a visit to Scotland. “I don’t think this sounds like a good policy.

“I find it quite stunning that this would be a priority for the Scottish Government when we’re here today talking about the Tory mortgage bombshell and what we would do to address that.

“We’re here meeting people training to do jobs in the industries of the future.

“We’ve got more than 700,000 people in Scotland on NHS waiting lists – pick an issue.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said drug deaths are three times as high in Scotland as elsewhere in the UK despite the same drugs laws, while Reeves added that it was not a “constitutional issue”.

I've recently started a new job. It doesn't pay as well as the old one but it's less hours, longer breaks and within walking distance of my house.

This last is the main draw. When I finish the late shift I whip out my Dynavap M and try to heat it up without being seen by other pedestrians, and road users. It's fine once it's heated.

Anyway I have just enough time to cache a bowl before I get home. I absolutely love it, gives me something to look forward to at the end of my shift and completely changes my mental space, so by the time I'm home I've blown work out of my mind and I'm in relaxed mode, which was my main issue with my old job.

I had to take time off in autumn last year with mental health problems that were all work related. The way my employer dealt with me was the push I needed to leave. On paper they were doing the bare minimum to support me, but actually what they did was throw me in a corner to get dusty and forget about me.

That's all I have, a positive vape story.

My Nest E thermostat has shown the dreaded W5 error today. All my research is saying the Wi-Fi chip is fried and its a well known issue with Nest thermostats.

It has only lasted me 6 months and from a Home Assistant standpoint has been a bit infuriating as it constantly needs reintegration.

The plus side is that it cost me a grand total of £15 off a charity shop on eBay that was selling it for spares and repairs because the display was "dead" but actually just needed a good charge. I saw from my research that this has happened to a lot of people who actually paid full price for it, and replacements are only sent out if it's in warranty.

It still works as a thermostat but ain't smart no more! I'll have to start trawling ebay for a cheap replacement display.

Nothing else to say, I've been starved of social media this week, going cold turkey from the R word, so that's what this is really.

So much wrong with this story, but also plenty of Compoface

I used DuckDNS for ages to access Home Assistant but it was flakey. I use Google Assistant so I need external access.

Nginx was the real bastard, it made my head hurt every time I used it. So eventually I gave Cloudflared a go.

I followed a blog and managed to get it working the free, with a free domain.

Until a couple of weeks ago. It just stopped working. Thanks to a Reddit post I worked out that it was because my free domain used .ga and that was taken down because it was used by hackers and tricksters and odious people who were up to no good.

So I've bought a .com address for 5 years for around £0.65 a month through Cloudflare themselves. It was easy to set up and seems to be pretty solid, although I've only had it a couple days.