National Mission on Drugs: annual report 2025 to 2026

3. Outcome 1: Fewer people develop problem drug use

3.1 Overview

This National Mission outcome focused on fewer people developing problem drug use, education and prevention, early access to support for emerging problem drug use and reducing the supply of harmful drugs.

Prevention is integral to tackling problem substance use. Effective prevention requires a whole-systems response, and our approach sits within the government’s wider commitment to address inequalities and the social determinants of health.

Throughout the National Mission, our approach to early intervention for young people sat alongside our Whole Family Approach Framework (see Outcome 6) to support the delivery of The Promise by making significant change in the way services work with families. This was supported by an additional £6.5 million funding per year over the National Mission timeframe, made up of £3.5 million allocated to ADPs and £3 million made available for the National Drugs Mission Children and Families Fund administered by the Corra Foundation

3.2.1 Early Intervention and Prevention

Early Intervention

Standards for young people accessing treatment or support for alcohol or drugs were published in December 2025 and include recommendations for ADPs and local services on how these standards can be met.

These standards were developed through a co-design process with young people and outline what children and young people should expect from services when seeking help for a drug or alcohol problem.

Adverse Childhood Experiences

We know that many people started their drug and alcohol use at an early age and that many had adverse childhood experiences. PHS reported in 2024/25 that for people starting specialist drug treatment in Scotland, the median age when people felt their drug use became problematic was 22 years old. Our approach to early intervention has been focussed on helping young people who are at risk of developing problem substance use.

In 2025/26, working with the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund, we invested over £1.3 million in Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs to expand the Routes model through the ‘Grow Your Own Routes’ project. This enabled local areas to establish services that provide holistic support to young people affected by family substance use and connect them with peers who share similar experiences.

Prevention

We made up to £750,000 available in 2025/26 to expand Planet Youth in Scotland. Planet Youth is an evidence based primary prevention model, based on the Icelandic Prevention Model which has been shown to reduce youth substance use, improve physical and mental wellbeing and boost school engagement. The model empowers communities to improve environments for children, young people and families.

It uses regular, anonymous surveys of young people to understand their behaviours, wellbeing, and influences such as family life, peer groups, school, and leisure activities. The findings are shared locally with councils, schools, parents, and community partners, who then work together to design evidence-led actions, such as increasing access to positive activities or supporting parental engagement. Planet Youth aims to prevent harm before it starts rather than responding after problems arise.

As of March 2026, Planet Youth is operating in 40 schools across 6 areas in Scotland. These are Argyll & Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Angus, Highland and West Dunbartonshire. Planet Youth will expand into more schools in the coming year, building on learning and local successes.

3.2.2 Whole Government approach: Education

Scottish Government Alcohol and Drug Support officials have been working with education colleagues and others to support the development of guidance for schools regarding vaping and other substance use, as part of the Relationships and Behaviours in Schools Action Plan 2024-27, and to ensure that the guidance reflects the needs of young people affected by substance use. This guidance will support local authorities to develop their own local substance use policies for schools and was published in March 2026.

The curriculum is currently under review through the Curriculum Improvement Cycle which is in its second year of a ten-year programme focused on reviewing and evolving the curriculum, led by Education Scotland. It will provide greater clarity, make the connections between knowledge, skills and understanding more explicit, and improve coherence across learning from age 3 to 18. The Scottish Government remains committed to working with key partners to help strengthen our education system to support our children and young people to be better prepared for life after school. Further information and the timeline for Curriculum, Qualifications and Assessment reform was published in June 2025.

3.2.3 Whole Government approach: Tackling child poverty

Universal measures that support children, young people and families to live well are crucial to building strong foundations for healthy development and reducing the prevalence of substance use. The following section provides an overview of the work undertaken across the Scottish Government over the reporting period to reduce child poverty.

Set against continued and unprecedented challenges to the public finances and cost of living pressures on household budgets, the Annual Progress Report on Child Poverty, published in June 2026, details the steps taken by the Scottish Government in 2025-26 to enhance support for families and drive continued progress in eradicating child poverty.

Over this period, we continued to prioritise action on child poverty, investing over £3.1 billion in support targeted at low-income households, with spend benefiting children rising to almost £1.5 billion. This has enabled ongoing investment in key measures including our Scottish Child Payment, estimated to keep 50,000 children out of relative poverty in 2026/27 and making Free School Meals available to over 360,000 pupils.

In March 2026, we published ‘Bringing Hope, Building Futures’ Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan for 2026-31, which sets out actions to drive continued progress. This includes investing £40 million in 2026/27 to deliver new support with transport and skills for families and increasing our Scottish Child Payment to £40 for families with a child under 1 during 2027-28.

3.2.4 Whole Government approach: Tackling supply of harmful drugs

The National Mission provided leadership and momentum in driving a shift towards a public health approach to alcohol and drug use. People with substance use issues are more likely to be involved with the criminal justice system as victims, witnesses or perpetrators of crime. The Scottish Government’s National Strategy for Community Justice aims to prioritise tackling the root causes of crime and support rehabilitation, shifting the balance between the use of custody and community justice options.

In December 2025, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland published a Thematic inspection of police response to drug harm reduction which found that Police Scotland embed a public health approach to reducing drug harm. This is supported by trauma-informed policing, local prevention work, and intelligence-led responses to emerging threats such as synthetic opioids and polydrug use, as well as work to disrupt high-harm supply chains.

Throughout 2025/26, the Scottish Government and partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce have remained committed to working together to disrupt serious organised crime and reduce the harm it causes to individuals and communities across Scotland. In particular, Police Scotland has continued to work with agencies in Scotland, the UK and internationally to take illegal substances off Scotland’s streets and to dismantle the groups responsible.

Some examples of partnership working between Police Scotland and other law enforcement partners in Scotland include the seizure of 2,500 cannabis plants in Falkirk in August 2025 that had an estimated value of £1.6 million, recovery of £3.68 million of cocaine in Glasgow in August 2025, and £7.1 million of cannabis in Wick in January 2026.