By GEORGIA EDKINS, SCOTTISH ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR DAILY MAIL AND THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
A taxpayer-funded drugs lobbying group has been accused of a ‘conflict of interest’ as The Mail on Sunday today reveals it is sponsored by pharmaceutical companies which make heroin replacements.
The Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF) has consistently called for SNP ministers to introduce ‘harm reduction’ methods over abstinence-based recovery.
Interventions include putting vulnerable addicts onto methadone programs which critics say trap sufferers in the cycle of addiction.
Analysis by The Mail last year showed methadone had killed more people over a five year period than heroin.
Now, we can reveal the SDF, which is a registered Scottish charity, is being sponsored by pharmaceutical giants Ethypharm and Camurus.
Ethypharm makes a number of drugs, including methadone, which is prescribed for opioid addiction treatment as part of NHS Scotland’s medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program.
Meanwhile Camurus makes Buvidal, another heroin substitute in the form of a slow release injection that can last for seven to 28 days. It is currently available for Scottish prisoners.
A recent job application for a full-time content creator and editor states a new SDF magazine is being paid for by the companies.
Methadon is prescribed for opioid addiction treatment as part of NHS Scotland’s medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program
It read: ‘This new project has been made possible thanks to unrestricted educational grants from Ethypharm and Camurus.’
Last night, Annemarie Ward, chief executive of Faces and Voices of Recovery, said the revelations had laid bare a ‘dangerous’ conflict of interest within the SDF, which is predominantly funded by the public purse.
She said: ‘These companies make their money from the very medications this magazine promotes…their business model depends on maintaining — not solving — mass dependency.
‘This is a glaring and dangerous conflict of interest.
‘SDF does not deliver treatment, support families, or provide long-term recovery programmes. It is a policy actor masquerading as a public service. This is not about evidence. It’s about influence. And it’s time we called it what it is.’
Scottish Conservative shadow drugs minister Annie Wells MSP said: ‘The source of this quango’s funding gives rise to legitimate questions over its advice to the SNP government on drugs policy.
‘The SNP have shamefully failed to tackle Scotland’s drugs death epidemic. They should do the right thing and back the Right to Recovery bill, which would enshrine in law a right to treatment for those suffering from addiction.’
Latest SDF company accounts show the group is majority funded by the taxpayer and received around £1.9m from the Scottish Government, local drug partnerships and the NHS last year alone.
Annemarie Ward, chief executive of Faces and Voices of Recovery, said the revelations had laid bare a ‘dangerous’ conflict of interest
Since 2018, it has received at least £6,281,237 from the taxpayer, according to FOI documents and accounts.
It has pushed for a number of harm reduction practices to be adopted by the Scottish Government and the NHS in Scotland, including the introduction of heroin safe consumption rooms.
Its position is that abstinence-based recovery, which has saved the lives of millions of people across the world for decades, is not the end goal of treatment.
That is despite addiction being defined by the NHS as not having ‘control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful’.
Instead, it has been a fierce advocate for MAT – or opioid replacement therapies – using drugs such as methadone – as well as safe consumption rooms and even full-scale decriminalisation.
Serious concerns have been raised about methadone prescriptions, which is prescribed to an estimated 20,540 people in Scotland.
Campaigners fear thousands of addicts have been ‘parked’ on the substitutes rather than receive residential rehabilitation to help them live free from mind and body altering substances.
Analysis of health records by The Mail last year showed there were 284,951 methadone scripts handed out over a 12 month period up to 2024, worth £4.1million.
Looking back over equivalent data for the previous five years, the total cost of methadone to the NHS was £19.9million.
Yet over five years, heroin claimed 2,544 lives, while methadone proved more deadly, responsible for 2,898 fatal overdoses.
Last night, Kirsten Horsburgh CEO of Scottish Drugs Forum said: ‘Scottish Drugs Forum is open and transparent about all sources of funding.
‘The vast majority of our funding comes from public bodies.
‘On occasion, we have received a small percentage of project-specific, unrestricted educational grants from pharmaceutical companies.
‘This is always under strict conditions that ensure complete independence over the work undertaken, with no influence on its content, conclusions or public messaging.’
