I seen the Scottish Conservatives posted about this and it caused a rather heated debate on who is to blame.
Firstly I'd say drug abuse, on the whole, is caused by poverty, lack of opportunity and education. If you look at large towns that have had their key industries removed (such as coal for example) poverty and drug addiction soar. And there are many, many such towns in Scotland.
Sturgeon has been asking Westminster repeatedly to take the helm in their strategy on fighting drug addiction in Scotland to align with more recent successful strategies. This has been refused repeatedly to the point where drug addiction rooms have been set up in Glasgow regardless.
Now Westminster control drug policy and we follow the hugely outdated 1971 act. Wasting an eye watering amount of funds on methadone simply doesn't work. Many addicts/ ex addicts themselves say its more addictive than heroin itself. No doubt some pockets are being lined somewhere in Westminster with its vast sales.
With policing, health and education all suffering from real time funding cuts from Westminster, and her hands tied with regards to strategy I don't see how she can be to blame. The police chief of London himself stated that following government guidelines of arresting addicts would require 100,000 more officers to police - not to mention the cost of incarceration.
A stupid and nieve claim by the Scottish Tories yes. But it also highlights the vast extent of inequality in Scotland.
