According to the Scottish Government a cut to direct funding for drug and alcohol services is merely a bureaucratic measure. The Scottish Government wants all such services to fall under health, to be better coordinated and to ensure uniform high standards.

That all makes some sort of sense. Although the problems caused by drug and alcohol addiction spill over into many areas of social policy - and the solutions require more than a health response - it is clear that primarily these are health issues.

More than 600 people died from drug misuse in Scotland in 2014 and the 2015 figures once confirmed are expected to be worse. 1100 people died last year from alcohol related illness.

But it is clear that the 22 per cent cut being proposed by health secretary Shona Robison has come as a surprise to partners in the local partnerships which oversee drug and alcohol services.

Ms Robison insists health boards must make up the difference, claiming that an increase in their baseline funding of 5.5 per cent means they can stump up the £15 million deficit alcohol and drug partnerships will otherwise face. There will be no cuts, the government says.

That would be fine if health boards would otherwise be simply salting that increase away for a rainy day. Unfortunately as we reported earlier this month, NHS Glasgow needs to save £60m merely to stay in budget, NHS Lothian £84m and other health boards are facing similar financial crises.

In that context, it is not mere paranoia for drug services to be sceptical about the likelihood of health boards making up for the huge reduction in direct funding.

Those with a drink or drug dependency themselves fear their are an unpopular cause, less of a priority than other vulnerable groups. This may be the case. Politicians are not likely to face queues at surgeries objecting to rehab service cuts.

But that is misguided, and such cuts are a false economy. In almost every area of health and social care, failing to intervene early to tackle dependencies is expensive.

It means letting down thousands of children of alcoholic or drug using parents - and greater use of expensive state and foster care. It means pressure on NHS beds and accident and emergency departments. It causes disruption and expense to housing, social work, policing and education.

That is the economic case for a more coherent policy. The humanitarian case should go without saying. Any decent society should be helping those whose lives are being destroyed by dependency. And there are the relatives affected - the grieving parents, the neglected children, the granny who steps in to offer kinship care.

Maybe health boards will step in to plug the gap. Even so, other problems lie ahead, as in Glasgow for instance, where all voluntary sector drug and alcohol services are being retendered - for an estimated £1.5m less than is currently paid.

But ministers must not allow this wider funding cut to go ahead until they can guarantee it will not damage services, will not lead to greater expense elsewhere in the system, and will not lead to more avoidable deaths.