Police Scotland implementation and use of Naloxone

Police Scotland began training officers in March 2021 and the pilot for use commenced in May 2021. The 6-month pilot phase will equip officers in Falkirk, Dundee City, and Glasgow East with nasal spray kits to administer to people who have overdosed during opioid drug use, enabling officers to potentially save lives. This pilot will allow Police Scotland to fully assess the potential benefits of equipping frontline officers with Naloxone.

The programme will train officers to effectively recognise indications of overdoses, as well as how to administer the nasal spray to victims. There have been a number of notable successes since the trial began. On Saturday 27 March 2021, a volunteer Police Scotland special constable gave two doses of the nasal spray to somebody who had collapsed and was suspected of overdosing. Two days later the overdose patient was discharged from hospital.

The House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee found evidence that treating drugs as a criminal justice matter overwhelmingly demonstrates that the current approach is counterproductive^[2]. Instead, many have proposed that Scotland should be open to implement innovative evidence-based solutions to address the issue of problem drug use.