THE Scottish Greens have called for the decriminalisation of drugs and further devolution as they kick off their general election campaign.

Speaking ahead of the party’s campaign launch, co-leader Patrick Harvie called for more powers for the Scottish Parliament over drug laws, arguing it would enable the expansion of safe consumption pilots already under way in Glasgow.

Mr Harvie said: “One of the biggest barriers to reform has been the UK government. Whoever is in Downing Street after July 4 must do better.

“That means actively supporting the rollout of safe consumption rooms in Scotland’s cities and allowing more widespread use of drug-checking services, as is already common across Europe.

“We need action from all levels of government.”

He criticised the failures of the war on drugs, questioning why so many governments “stuck to it.”

“We can’t have even more years of a broken status quo that is actively harming people and causing premature and avoidable deaths,” Mr Harvie said.

The Scottish Greens announced their policy as they embarked on a campaign that will see them stand a record 44 candidates at the general election, arguing not only for greater attention on environmental policy but the devolution of powers to hold referenda on Scotland’s constitutional future.

Speaking at the Stirling launch of their campaign, co-leader Lorna Slater called for decisive action on climate, stating: “It is the Greens who are being honest with voters about the reality of the climate crisis and what we need to do to build a modern, green and fair Scotland.”

Focusing on the constitution, Mr Harvie said: “That starts by Westminster granting the Scottish Parliament the power to hold constitution referendums so the people of Scotland can make their choice about their future at a time of their choosing.”