By Steven Bell

A NEW DRUG and alcohol strategy for Dundee was launched by community safety minister Fergus Ewing yesterday aimed at enhancing the “life chances” of people living in deprived areas.

He also presented the Scottish Government’s Road To Recovery to address the £2.6 billion a year drug problem.

Dundee has been blighted by heroin in recent years, and part of the strategy is to reduce drug-related deaths and overdoses.

Over three years the Dundee Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) will ensure that services meet the needs of individuals and families affected by substance misuse—children in particular.

The team will also address the link between deprivation and problematic substance misuse, enhancing prospects for those living in deprived areas.

The strategy is described as “a vision where fewer people start using drugs, where early intervention prevents and reduces the harm caused by drugs, where more people recover to make a positive contribution towards society and communities are stronger and safer places.”

Members of the DAAT include the city council, Tayside Police, NHS Tayside, the voluntary sector, the Scottish Prison Service and Community Justice Authority.

Mr Ewing said, “I’m delighted to launch the DAAT’s three-year strategy and action plan, and hear first hand from the professionals, voluntary groups and service users about their experience of tackling the various problems which drugs misuse pose for local communities.

“This visit also continues my current tour across Scotland to meet those who are at the forefront of delivering the new national drugs strategy which I launched in May and received Parliament’s backing in June.”

That strategy seeks to promote recovery from drug problems and cut the estimated annual £2.6 billion cost to the economy.

The plan includes a recognition that tackling drug abuse will only be done through effective policies on the economy, poverty and supporting families.

It takes a fresh approach to drugs education, including providing information on illegal substances to every household with parents or grandparents in Scotland.

Estimates suggest that Dundee alone has almost 4000 people abusing opiates or benzodiazepines (tranquillisers).

The city also has a prevalence of people who misuse alcohol, with upwards of 1000 a year requiring hospital treatment.