National mission on drugs

In January 2021, the former First Minister announced a new National Mission to reduce drug deaths and harms supported by an additional £250 million funding between 2021 to 2026. Our outcomes framework and cross-cutting priorities (August 2022), developed with stakeholders, reflected our key objectives.

Harm reduction

The Drug Death Taskforce stressed that harm reduction was a key element of the strategy for reducing drug related deaths. We published a drug law reform paper (July 2023) proposing harm reduction as a key underlying principle for future drugs policy.

Naloxone

Naloxone is the emergency antidote for overdoses caused by heroin and other opiates. Scotland was the first country in the world to introduce a National Naloxone Programme to help prevent fatal opioid overdoses. The Click and Deliver service provides naloxone to anyone living in Scotland who is over the age of 16 (for injection kit) and 14 (for nasal kit).

Quarterly and annual monitoring on the number of take-home naloxone kits provided in Scotland is published by Public Health Scotland. Police Scotland completed their naloxone roll out in 2023 with more than 12,500 police officers routinely carrying naloxone. Naloxone kits have been made available in every community pharmacy across the country for use in an emergency. 

Non-fatal overdoses

Non-fatal overdoses are a good indicator that someone is at risk of going on to experience a fatal overdose, these individuals need to be a priority for follow up and additional support. We continue to focus on non-fatal overdose pathways and outreach work that are crucial to connect people to the right services.

Safer Drug Consumption Facility (SDCF)

The SDCF evidence paper (2021) outlined how facilities will aim to reduce the risks of disease transmission, prevent drug-related overdose deaths and connect high-risk drug users with treatment and other services.

The first Safer Drug Consumption Facility (SDCF) in the UK, The Thistle, opened in Glasgow on 13 January 2025. The service publishes monthly data on injecting episodes, medical emergencies and overall engagement, providing valuable insight into drug use trends and the wider system impact.

An independent evaluation led by academic experts is underway (October 2025), funded by The National Institute for Health and Care Research and their findings will inform decisions on the future expansion of SDCFs across Scotland.

Drug checking

Drug checking services allow people to anonymously submit samples of drugs for testing, enabling them to make more informed decisions, and put them in contact with support services.

The Scottish Drug Checking Project demonstrates how drug checking could be effective in Scotland. We are implementing a Drug Checking Pilot Project which will see point of care sites opening in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh, supported by a National Testing and Research Laboratory based at the University of Dundee.

The project will also feed information into the wider drug RADAR surveillance system. An independent evaluation of the drug checking pilot, covering the four sites and the National Testing and Research Laboratory, will also be carried out.

Treatment

We support people to make informed choices about the type of medication and help available to them. This is an essential part of respecting a person’s rights and dignity.

The Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards (May 2021) define what is needed for the consistent delivery of safe and accessible drug treatment and support in Scotland.

Implementation of MAT standards is measured in the national benchmarking report published annually by Public Health Scotland. Read more information and resources on MAT.

We supported the opening of the first Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT) service in Glasgow in 2019. An evaluation of HAT and a set of recommendations were made by the Chief Scientist’s Office.

Positive findings in the patient experience follow-up report for Long-acting injectable Buprenorphine (Buvidal) meant it is now on all health board formularies and being made available nationally.

Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) treatment can be effective in reducing drug deaths and harm, as outlined in the OST Evidence Review. PHS publish quarterly data on the number of people in OST.

Acknowledging that benzodiazepines are implicated in a high proportion of drug deaths, a benzodiazepine evidence review was published in March 2022. In December 2023, PHS published MAT standards informed response to benzodiazepine harm reduction guidance.

We published Benzodiazepine prescribing guidance (August 2024). We are funding a pilot benzodiazepine clinic in Fife, which offers completion of a safe and time limited benzodiazepine detoxification where appropriate.

We are concerned at the rise in numbers of deaths where cocaine has been implicated. We have asked local services to ensure pathways are in place to meet this increase in demand. Services provide a range of residential and community-based support for people including supervised detox, crisis care, psychosocial therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and rehabilitation.

Drug Research Network Scotland published a stimulant dependence rapid review (September 2024) to examine evidence on treatments for stimulant use.

We will develop a refreshed alcohol and drug strategic plan building on the National Mission.

We are developing a national specification, that will set out the types of treatment and recovery services for drugs and alcohol that should be available across Scotland.

Residential rehabilitation

We made £100 million available to support residential rehabilitation from 2021 to 2026.

We made two key commitments regarding residential rehabilitation. We have committed to:

increasing residential rehabilitation capacity from the estimated 425 beds reported in 2021 to 650 beds by 2026
ensuring that by 2026, at least 1000 people are publicly funded to go to residential rehabilitation every year

Progress towards these targets is monitored and reported by Public Health Scotland (PHS) for residential rehabilitation placements and by the Scottish Government for residential rehabilitation bed capacity.

As part of their National Mission overall evaluation of the National Mission, PHS published the first residential rehab evaluation report  in February 2024. The latest report on residential rehabilitation placements was published by PHS in July 2025. The latest report on bed capacity was published by the Scottish Government in November 2024, with an updated report expected in November 2025.  

The Residential Rehabilitation Development Group (RRDWG), was set up in June 2020, to advise on the provision of drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation services across Scotland. The RRDWG published  recommendations on drug and alcohol residential treatment services (December 2020).

We have worked with Scotland Excel to develop a flexible framework (January 2024), which seeks to standardise approaches to commissioning placements in residential rehabilitation, including detox and aftercare.

The RRDWG was dissolved on 24 February 2025 to allow a shift in focus towards establishing a sustainable future for residential rehabilitation once the National Mission ends after this parliamentary term in 2026. To support this change, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care set up the Future of Residential Rehabilitation Working Group (FRRWG) in February 2025.

The national service directory (launched in August 2024) provides a nationwide list of residential rehabilitation providers to help people identify the best service to support them.

Workforce

A resilient and skilled workforce is a cross-cutting priority underpinning the National Mission. We established a Workforce Expert Delivery Group in September 2022. The group consider the challenges facing the drugs and alcohol workforce and advise on how best to support the sector’s workforce.

As recommended by the Drug Deaths Taskforce, we published the drugs and alcohol workforce action plan 2023 to 2026 in December 2023. This sets out the actions to be taken to develop a sustainable, trauma informed, skilled workforce with the capacity to deliver a person centred, rights-based approach.

The Workforce Expert Delivery Group provides oversight and advice on the delivery of those actions outlined within the action plan.

We published the Drugs and Alcohol Workforce Knowledge and Skills Framework (April 2025). This defines the knowledge and skills required by those supporting people to address their substance use challenges.

The Framework is complemented by the Drug and Alcohol Learning Directory, which provides access to training and development opportunities, to support development of the knowledge and skills set out in the framework.

We are committed to ensuring that people with lived and living experience are supported to establish careers within the drug and alcohol sector and published the following:

Your guide to a career in substance use services (June 2025)
Supporting people with lived and living experience of substance use in to work (June 2025) for employers in the sector

Data and surveillance

We are committed to improving data and surveillance around drugs and alcohol. Developments have included a drug prevalence estimate, supporting further developments of the Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy) and investing in the Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) drugs early warning system.

A new substance of significant concern, a group of synthetic opioids called nitazenes, have been detected in a range of locations in Scotland in 2025 and have also been detected in post-mortem toxicology results.

Regular updates on nitazenes are on the Public Health Scotland website.

National Records of Scotland publish accredited official statistics on Drug Related Deaths in Scotland annually.

Public Health Scotland publish a quarterly report as part of the RADAR surveillance system incorporating a range of drug-related indicators in order to inform action to prevent drug harms and deaths. Public Health Scotland also publish a range of other quarterly and annual statistics in relation to drugs and alcohol.

Monitoring and evaluation

Public Health Scotland (PHS) are conducting an independent evaluation of the National Mission. Their evaluation framework (May 2024) sets out key questions and proposal for the evaluation. A series of publications are planned prior to the publication of the final evaluation report after the National Mission finishes in 2026.

We publish a National Mission on Drugs annual report, outlining progress against the outcomes framework set out in the National Mission Plan.

The National Mission annual monitoring report provides a robust statistical backdrop to monitor progress made towards the Mission outcomes. It is complemented by monitoring metrics, which outlines key data sources, rationale for inclusion and limitations.