SNP and Greens unite to vote down Ross’ addiction bill

SNP and Green MSPs who voted down a proposed bill to guarantee the right to treatment for people with drug addiction were last night accused of putting “politics before people”.

- By Richard Elias

Furious Scottish Tories blasted the move labelling it a “dark day for Scotland”.

The so-called Right to Recovery Bill had been proposed by former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross.

It would have given anyone diagnosed as having a drug or alcohol addiction the right to treatment within three weeks of their diagnosis with a variety of processes, including residential rehabilitation.

However, it had been predicted to fail in its first stage after Holyrood’s health committee recommended voting against it.

Critics claimed it would risk overburdening already stretched services and yesterday afternoon the SNP and Greens joined together to vote down the bill despite Labour and the Lib Dems supporting it.

The proposal fell by 52 to 63 votes.

Afterwards, Mr Ross said: “This is a dark day for Scotland. Our country is the drugs deaths capital of Europe and has a huge problem with alcohol fatalities too, yet SNP and Green politicians have shamefully abandoned some of our most vulnerable people by failing to back a bill that would have been a game-changer.