Scotland has a drugs problem – and it’s called Westminster | Simon Jenkins

A spike in deaths shows the failure of centralised policies. Holyrood should be allowed to try new methods

Scotland’s drug mortality rate cannot be shelved as just another misery statistic. It has risen by 27% in a year and is three times England and Wales’s rate, 50 times Portugal’s and higher even than that of the United States. Westminster is clearly deaf to this tragedy. There is only one solution. Declare it Scotland’s problem. Let Scotland decide what to do.

Every country in the developed...