DRUG addiction should be tackled by ending the stigma surrounding substance misuse and treating it as primarily a health problem, a senior police chief has told MSPs.

Chief Superintendent John McKenzie, of Police Scotland, made the comments in a written submission to Holyrood's Health Committee.

He is due to give evidence today to the committee's inquiry into efforts to prevent drug misuse.

In his report, he says Police Scotland has set up a "harm prevention portfolio" looking at the links between traumatic events in childhood and subsequent poor mental health and drug abuse. "Police Scotland recognises the need to address these issues as one", he says.

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Mr McKenzie also calls for efforts to reduce judgemental attitudes from professionals and the public towards drug users. "Work is also needed to address stigma," he says, adding that stigma stops some drug users from asking for help and using addiction services.

He adds: "By raising awareness of stigma and the negative impacts of stigmatising attitudes, we can influence behaviour and create an inclusive environment that recognises drug use as primarily a health issue."

If the Scottish Parliament is keen to take a more preventative approach, more could be done to investigate why people take drugs and then tackle these causes, Mr McKenzie says. "More action is needed to aid understanding of social inequalities; by taking steps to address factor such as adverse childhood experiences, mental health, housing, employment and poverty, which impact on an individual's drug use and recovery."

Scottish Conservative health spokeswoman Annie Wells said police should concentrate on drug users as offenders. "People whose lives have been destroyed by drugs and the waves of crime drugs bring to some communities, would prefer to see Police Scotland taking a tough stance."

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However Dharmacarini Kuladharini, Chief Executive of the Scottish Recovery Consortium, who is also giving evidence to the committee today, said society risked "blindsiding" itself by expecting drug users to heed health advice.

"This has been shown to be ineffective. We don't choose our means of self-soothing or escape with our thinking or logical minds. If we did, no doctors would ever smoke and no nurses would ever have substance use problems," she said. "We ought to consider other means of transforming substance use behaviours."

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Last April, the Scottish Government transferred responsibility for drugs policy from the justice to the health department, saying it should be viewed as a public health issue.