Dundee actor Brian Cox has said decriminalisation may be the best way of reducing the number of drug-related fatalities in his home town.
A total of 109 people died in Tayside last year from drug-related causes, 66 of them in Dundee.
Across Scotland, 1,187 deaths were recorded.
Cox, who is currently starring in the hit drama Succession, told the Daily Record he believes decriminalising drugs may help reduce the harm caused by drugs and the number of people falling into addiction.
He said: “I don’t know what the solution is because tragically it’s into fourth and fifth generation addiction.
“It’s also because of such abuse that has gone on, creating elements that have polluted the situation.
“I long to see Dundee reflect the town’s improvements on its people. That’s why I think drugs should be decriminalised, but also I think one has to look at what is causing drug addiction.
“It has been going on from generation to generation and it is something we really need to attend to – how to rehabilitated people.”
The actor said Dundee has reinvented itself thanks to its creative industries and the arrival of the V&A but said more needs to be done to help those battling drug addiction.
He said: “Dundee is a credit because it has fought its way back into place. It has done it through the video game industry, through the universities and the artistic hub that Dundee has become.
“I never thought it would be a city of creation but it is and that’s extraordinary, but we have to help the people.
“Dundee needs to solve its inner city problem, which is plagued by heroin addiction.”
He added that he regards decriminalisation as a “good idea”.
He said: “The problem is there is always an element of being subversive. That is the feeling when you take drugs. If we legalise, we eradicate that subversive element.”
The 73-year-old also said “social engineering” has contributed to the drug problem in Scotland.
He said: “They created housing schemes in Dundee that seemed to be forces for good but they weren’t because they cut people off from the city centre.
“By doing that they disenfranchised them. This happened in Dundee in the 50s and we are seeing the effects on people.”
The Dundee Drugs Commission was set up to find ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs in Dundee.
It will publish its report on Friday.
Meanwhile a Scottish Government emergency task force set up to tackle Scotland’s drugs crisis is schedule to meet for the first time next month.
