A TORY MSP has made am impassioned plea to both the UK and Scottish Governments to stop "playing political football" with the drugs deaths crisis.

Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, last night wrote to Joe FitzPatrick and Kit Malthouse asking them to take urgent action on the scandal of drug-related deaths which claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Scots in the last year.

The former supermarket worker from Springburn said she felt she had "not done enough to help" and that "both of Scotland's Governments should be feeling the same way".

In a letter, Wells said she had lost friends and neighbours in her community of Springburn due to drugs and asked both ministers to "turn words into action and start doing something".

Drugs related deaths reached an all-time high this year, with the topic highly politicised due to the refusal by the Conservative government in Westminster to grant the SNP-run Scottish Government the ability to open a safer infecting facility in Glasgow.

Health experts, academics and politicians signed off on the plans,which would see drug users supervised while injecting substances, minimising the risk of overdose.

However Westminster blocked the proposals, saying there was "no legal framework" for the facilities, and no plan to legislate for them.

The Scottish Conservatives have since strengthened their opposition to the consumption room plans, saying they would be illegal and that their introduction would ignore wider issues surrounding addiction.

In her letter to the UK Crime, Police and Fire service minister Malthouse, Wells said: "We have become caught playing a game of political football when people's lives are at stake. We are collectively failing.

"The grass-roots campaign You keep Talking We Keep Dying perfectly sums up how people on the streets are feeling. The politicians are paying lip service but nothing is really changing."

Wells also said the Scottish Government's drugs deaths task force "has, so far, not had any impact on communities affected" and added: "In public, the Scottish Government has fixated on consumption rooms as if they are the only possible option, when there are successful rehabilitation and treatment services going under at this very moment because of a lack of support."

In another letter to Scottish Government Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing Joe FitzPatrick, she wrote: "These are my communities. I grew up and still live in Springburn. I've lost a neighbour, I can walk along my street and point out the homes that have been devastated by drugs."

The MSP added: "The UK Government also needs to take stock and do more to make a difference immediately.

"We can't simply wait because there is a general election at the moment. Work must take place, even if it behind the scenes, to ensure the summit goes ahead."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said:“The Minister for Public Health has been clear that he is seeking to host a summit in Glasgow, to which all administrations in the UK will be invited, as soon as is practicable. It is vital that the incoming UK Government participated in this to hear how the currently reserved legislation is impacting of the ability to take forward innovative new services.

“We firmly believe the outdated Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 should be amended to allow us to implement a range of public health focused responses.

"We have called on the incoming UK Government to amend the Act or to devolve those powers to Scotland, and this must be part of any discussion we have.

“We are clear that the situation facing Scotland in relation to drugs-related deaths in an emergency.

"We continue to take actions to address this crisis, including setting up a dedicated drug deaths taskforce to shape steps to reduce the harms caused by drugs, and advise on further changes in practice, or in the law, which could help save lives.

”We want to ensure everyone who requires treatment for their drug use has access to it. That is why we have invested almost £800 million to tackle problem alcohol and drug use since 2008. Our 2018 alcohol and drug strategy set out how an additional £20 million per annum announced the year before is being used to improve local prevention, treatment, and recovery services in areas all across Scotland.

”In addition we announced through our 2019-20 Programme for Government a further investment of £20 million over two years to support local services and provide targeted support.”

The home office did not respond to a request for comment