Scotland boosts drug addiction treatment funding

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by Change | 8 Dec 2009

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The Scottish Executive has announced a significant increase in the amount of money it is putting into fighting drug addiction in the country, with more investment being given to addiction treatment services.

The Scottish government has announced a £28.6 million funding boost for addiction treatment services in the country as ministers seek to tackle the growing problem of drug addiction.

NHS health boards in Scotland will be given a share of the money to improve their addiction treatment facilities and develop new addiction recovery services for people struggling with drug addiction.

Community safety minister Fergus Ewing said the investment would reap significant financial rewards for the country's NHS services because it is considerably cheaper to provide addiction treatment facilities to tackle the problem than to let addicts continue to take drugs.

"For every £1 spent on treatment to tackle drug addiction, £9.50 is saved to the public purse," he explained.

The investment in drug addiction treatment services represents a 20 per cent increase on the amount of money set aside for this area in 2006/07, the Scottish government has said.

Scotland is increasingly looking to tackle a rising addiction problem, with the Scottish executive having already considered proposals to reduce the number of people entering rehab clinics suffering from alcohol addiction.

Ministers had proposed a minimum price per unit of alcohol, but opponents warned the concept could breach European regulations.

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