A DRUGS expert has criticised policy-makers for failing to take meaningful action to tackle Scotland's long-standing issue with illicit substances.

Professor Neil McKeganey, a sociologist who has spent his career researching drug abuse and won international recognition for his work, said that Scotland's problem with illegal substances was "virtually unequalled anywhere in the world" and warned that there were "very real grounds for concern" over the use of methadone north of the border.

He said that there was a "serious lack of information available" to show how many people were prescribed the heroin substitute or how successful the treatment programme was. In Scotland, half of drug deaths are linked to methadone while in England, it is a factor in just 14 per cent of fatalities.

Writing in a pamphlet in on justice issues published by the Scottish Conservatives, Prof McKeganey, director at the Centre for Drug Misuse Research, also claims that there is little commitment to rigorous independent evaluation in the realm of drug enforcement, despite fewer harmful drugs being seized over recent years.

He added: "The failures in the ways in which illegal drug use is being tackled in Scotland are long standing and well identified. Understanding the nature of a problem is not however, the same as successfully addressing the problem... There is a need in Scotland for greater accountability where deficiencies are evident in the ways in which publicly funded bodies are seeking to implement national policy.

"Scotland needs to move from its position at the very top of the league table of Europe's drugs problem. Identifying the nature of the problem has been done (more than once); it is now time for substantial remedial action."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government insisted that drug use was falling, particularly among the young. She added: "Our focus is to get people off drugs for good and we are determined to tackle the damaging impact of drugs and our national drugs strategy received support from all parties.

"That's why we have invested record funding of over £224m in drug treatment and support since 2007/8 with £30.4m this year, a rise of over 20 per cent since 2006-07.

"At the same time we have dramatically reduced drug treatment waiting times, and 95 per cent of people are now treated within three weeks or less."