Scots anti-drugs charity accepts cash from pharma giant that makes METHADONE
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A ROW has erupted after it emerged one of Scotland's most prominent anti-drugs charities is taking cash from a firm making methadone.
Taxpayer-funded quango the Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF) have been at the forefront of calls for harm reduction methods to solve Scotland's shameful addiction and drug deaths crisis.
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The charity receives cash from firms making Methadone - a heroin substitute
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The Scottish Drugs Forum has been pushing for harm reduction methods to get people off drugs - which include Methadone
Credit: Alamy
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Annemarie Ward, of FAVOR UK (Faces & Voices of Recovery UK), accused the quango of having a "dangerous conflict on interest"
Credit: Michael Schofield
Such methods include addicts being given methadone - a heroin substitute - which opponents say does nothing to get people real help and recovery and just traps a person in addiction.
But it has since emerged the SDF is getting financial backing from two firms producing the drug substitutes at the centre of harm reduction tactics.
The charity is getting financial backing by big Pharma firms Ethypharm and Camurus, the Mail on Sunday revealed.
Among the several drugs produced by Ethypharm is methoadone, which is given put by the NHS for opioid addiction.
While Camurus makes a slow-release heroin substitute called Buvidal, which lasts for up to 28 days.
The pharma firms sponsored a job role that was advertised at the SDF.
The quango was hiring a content creator and editor to help create their "a peer-led, harm reduction-focused magazine created by and for people who use drugs."
It was advertised last year with a salary range of £40,937 to £44,699.
But the job role said the whole harm-reduction magazine project is only able to happen because of cash given by the pharmaceutical companies.
The advert read: "This new project has been made possible thanks to unrestricted educational grants from Ethypharm and Camurus."
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The charity has now been accused of having a "dangerous conflict of interest" by taking cash from firms producing the drugs.
Veteran drug campaigner Annemarie Ward, who has been leading calls for abstinence-based recovery through her charity FAVOR UK, 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."
Methadone has been floated as an answer to solving the drugs crisis for years, yet it has continued to claim lives.
In the past five years it has proven responsible for 2,898 fatal overdoses.
Scottish Tories shadow drugs minister Annie Wells added: "The source of this quango's funding gives rise to legitimate questions over its advice to the SNP government on drugs policy."
The CEO of the Scottish Drugs Forum, Kirsten Horsburgh, 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."
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