A community campaigner believes Dundee is losing its war on drugs.
Avid volunteer Stella Carrington, who has analysed the impact of substance abuse, believes efforts to tackle drug abuse are progressing, but “at a snail’s pace”.
The former Dundee Citizen of the Year and current president of the Charleston Residents’ Association accused local and national government of “having their heads in the sand” over the issue.
A move to a European model of supervised injecting areas, Stella feels, is the way ahead.
She said: “Things are moving that slowly.
“I found a needle in my garden quite recently. Drugs are still an ongoing curse on the area.
“We need designated safe injecting zones. That might save lives, but it would also save all the needles which are left lying around.
“We need to try to work with other cities and see what they are doing.
“It’s a shame for those who are needing help.”
Stella feels giving people space where they can legally and safely consume drugs in a supervised area is the beginning of tackling drug abuse and drug related crime.
According to the British Empire Medal recipient, trying to remove incidents of drug consumption from the streets is vital.
Stella said: “We’ve found the majority of anti-social behaviour is coming from substance abuse. Drugs and alcohol is behind a lot of it.
“Things are improving, but at a snail’s pace.
“There was the very distressing picture in The Courier and it is a hard road, but things have got to change. We’re not helping enough.
“If Dundee can find the money for the V&A, then why can we not find the money to help people?”
Ken Lynn, the chair of Dundee’s health and social care integrated joint board, revealed Dundee City Council is to meet with NHS Tayside to source “new and different” solutions.
He said: “What we want to do is set up something similar to the Fairness Commission, which took evidence from a number of services.
“We want to do something similar with the huge issue of drug and alcohol misuse.
“It’s something we are determined to tackle.
“We need to look at what’s working and what isn’t.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Our latest figures show that drug taking among adults is falling, and that levels of drug use among young people remains low.
“We have invested over £630 million to tackle problem drug and alcohol use since 2008 and have a national drugs strategy to make sure recovery is a reality for individuals, families and communities.
“We have no plans to introduce drug consumption rooms.”
