The Scottish Parliament has launched a ‘people’s panel’ which will consider the question, ‘What does Scotland need to do differently to reduce drug related harms?’.
The people’s panel, made up of 25 people from across Scotland who are broadly representative of the Scottish population, worked together to scrutinise the issue. The final report will help inform the cross-committee scrutiny of matters related to reducing drug deaths and tackling problem drug use.
The committees which consider this issue are the Criminal Justice Committee, the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee and the Social Justice and Social Security Committee.
The people’s panel met over two weekends – on October 25 to 27 and November 15 to 17 – where they heard testimony from those with lived experience of the issue, from academics and researchers, and from stakeholders who work in this area.
The panel will deliberate on the evidence before a final report is produced which will identify what they see as the key issues and provide recommendations for action to tackle these issues.
The Panel met in person from 25 to 27 October 2024.
View the presentation slides for participants: weekend one (12MB, pdf) posted 15 January 2025
The Panel met online from 6.30 to 8pm on 6 November 2024.
The Panel met online from 6.30 to 8pm on 12 November 2024.
The panel met in person from 15 to 17 November 2024.
View the presentation slides for participants: weekend two (6MB, pdf) posted 15 January 2025
Following the session on 27 October 2024, the People’s Panel submitted additional questions to the Scottish Government and received a written response from the Mission Strategy Team in the Drugs Policy Division ahead of the second weekend in order to further support participants’ deliberations.
Read questions and answers from the Mission Strategy Team, Drugs Policy Division, Scottish Government (217KB, pdf) posted 15 January 2025
People’s Panel on reducing drug harm and deaths in Scotland – Final report (3MB, pdf) posted 20 January 2025
Scottish Government Response to the People's Panel Report (175KB, pdf) posted 24 February 2025
On 20 February 2025, members of the Health, Social Care and Sport; and Social Justice and Social Security Committees held a joint evidence session to hear from some of the People’s Panel on the recommendations in the Panel’s report on reducing drug harm and drug deaths in Scotland. They also heard from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on the Scottish Government’s response to the report.
Watch the meeting on Scottish Parliament TV
Read the Official Report of this meeting
On 6 March 2025, the Criminal Justice Committee, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee and Social Justice and Social Security Committees led a Chamber debate on the Panel's report on reducing drug harm and drug deaths in Scotland.
Back to Reducing drug deaths in Scotland and tackling problem drug use