{"id":205313,"date":"2025-06-22T14:28:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T14:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/205313\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T14:28:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T14:28:12","slug":"anger-over-drugs-lobbying-group-which-accepts-cash-from-firms-that-produce-methadone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/205313\/","title":{"rendered":"Anger over drugs lobbying group which accepts cash from firms that produce… methadone"},"content":{"rendered":"

By GEORGIA EDKINS, SCOTTISH ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR DAILY MAIL AND THE MAIL ON SUNDAY <\/p>\n

A taxpayer-funded drugs lobbying group has been accused of a \u2018conflict of interest\u2019 as The Mail on Sunday today reveals it is sponsored by pharmaceutical companies which make heroin replacements.<\/p>\n

The Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF) has consistently called for SNP<\/a> ministers to introduce \u2018harm reduction\u2019 methods over abstinence-based recovery.<\/p>\n

Interventions include putting vulnerable addicts onto methadone programs which critics say trap sufferers in the cycle of addiction.<\/p>\n

Analysis by The Mail last year showed methadone had killed more people over a five year period than heroin.<\/p>\n

Now, we can reveal the SDF, which is a registered Scottish charity, is being sponsored by pharmaceutical giants Ethypharm and Camurus.<\/p>\n

Ethypharm makes a number of drugs, including methadone, which is prescribed for opioid addiction treatment as part of NHS<\/a> Scotland\u2019s medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A recent job application for a full-time content creator and editor states a new SDF magazine is being paid for by the companies.<\/p>\n

\"Methadone <\/p>\n

Methadon is prescribed for opioid addiction treatment as part of NHS Scotland\u2019s medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program<\/p>\n

It read: \u2018This new project has been made possible thanks to unrestricted educational grants from Ethypharm and Camurus.\u2019<\/p>\n

Last night, Annemarie Ward, chief executive of Faces and Voices of Recovery, said the revelations had laid bare a \u2018dangerous\u2019 conflict of interest within the SDF, which is predominantly funded by the public purse.<\/p>\n

She said: \u2018These companies make their money from the very medications this magazine promotes…their business model depends on maintaining \u2014 not solving \u2014 mass dependency.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is a glaring and dangerous conflict of interest.<\/p>\n

\u2018SDF 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\u2019s about influence. And it\u2019s time we called it what it is.\u2019<\/p>\n

Scottish Conservative shadow drugs minister Annie Wells MSP said: \u2018The source of this quango\u2019s funding gives rise to legitimate questions over its advice to the SNP government on drugs policy.<\/p>\n

\u2018The SNP have shamefully failed to tackle Scotland\u2019s 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.\u2019<\/p>\n

Latest SDF company accounts show the group is majority funded by the taxpayer and received around \u00a31.9m from the Scottish Government, local drug partnerships and the NHS last year alone.<\/p>\n

\"Annemarie <\/p>\n

Annemarie Ward, chief executive of Faces and Voices of Recovery, said the revelations had laid bare a \u2018dangerous\u2019 conflict of interest<\/p>\n

Since 2018, it has received at least \u00a36,281,237 from the taxpayer, according to FOI documents and accounts.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

That is despite addiction being defined by the NHS as not having \u2018control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful\u2019.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Serious concerns have been raised about methadone prescriptions, which is prescribed to an estimated 20,540 people in Scotland.<\/p>\n

Campaigners fear thousands of addicts have been \u2018parked\u2019 on the substitutes rather than receive residential rehabilitation to help them live free from mind and body altering substances.<\/p>\n

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 \u00a34.1million.<\/p>\n

Looking back over equivalent data for the previous five years, the total cost of methadone to the NHS was \u00a319.9million.<\/p>\n

Yet over five years, heroin claimed 2,544 lives, while methadone proved more deadly, responsible for 2,898 fatal overdoses.<\/p>\n

Last night, Kirsten Horsburgh CEO of Scottish Drugs Forum said: \u2018Scottish Drugs Forum is open and transparent about all sources of funding.<\/p>\n

\u2018The vast majority of our funding comes from public bodies.<\/p>\n

\u2018On occasion, we have received a small percentage of project-specific, unrestricted educational grants from pharmaceutical companies.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is always under strict conditions that ensure complete independence over the work undertaken, with no influence on its content, conclusions or public messaging.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By GEORGIA EDKINS, SCOTTISH ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR DAILY MAIL AND THE MAIL ON SUNDAY A taxpayer-funded drugs lobbying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[92,105,4326,12,10004,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-205313","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-medication","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-snp","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114727492554069178","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}