The central concept of the Government's strategy is recovery. 'Recovery' is the principle that people suffering from problem drug use should receive interventions which do more than just reduce the immediate risks and harms of addiction. Instead, the clear goal should be to move on from addiction, towards a drug-free life as active and contributing members of society. Recovery rises above the arguments about abstinence or harm reduction: both can be legitimate means towards the ultimate end. It is the expression of the outcomes that we seek from drug treatment and rehabilitation services - not just the inputs.
The emphasis on recovery has emerged from the series of influential reports produced under the auspices of the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse (SACDM) - in particular, the review of the place of methadone in drug treatment ' Reducing Harm, Promoting Recovery' (published in July 2007), and the ' Essential Care' report (published in March 2008). These reports provide the building blocks of a new approach to tackling problem drug use in Scotland.
The concept of recovery is something that has been employed successfully in the field of mental health in Scotland in recent years. The case for a cross-over into the field of addictions is now being made by a wide range of academics, practitioners and politicians. One of the strengths of the recovery approach is that it emphasises the responsibility on both service user and provider to work towards clear goals.
Moving to an approach that is based on recovery will mean a significant change both in the pattern of services that are commissioned, and in how practitioners engage with individuals to support their recovery. Part of effecting this cultural change is to learn from the success of the recovery approach elsewhere, such as mental health, and to embed recovery within workforce development. The strategy sets in train a number of actions to make this happen.
The Road to Recovery A new Approach to Tackling Scotland's Drug Problem was published in May 2008. This was followed up by a progress report, The Road to Recovery: One year On in June 2009