Abstract
This article is an attempt to provide an overview of the origins of the Scottish Government's current drug strategy The Road to Recovery: A New Approach to Tackling Scotland's Drug Problem (2008) and to provide an analysis of the particular national and local policymaking environment that shaped the strategy. Launched in May 2008, it signaled a paradigm change in thinking about drugs policy in relation to those with a serious drug problem in Scotland.
Acknowledgments
Material for this article was gathered while Ria Din was on secondment as a specialist advisor in drugs to the Scottish Government between 2006 and 2011. The article is authored by Ria Din in a personal capacity and not as a representative of the Scottish Government.
The author would like to acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Maureen Bruce and Dr. Paul Bennett for their helpful suggestions on various drafts of this article.