Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has thanked community pharmacists for their contribution to the drug misuse scheme.

Mr Salmond said that the successful delivery of the Scottish drug strategy Road to Recovery, was dependent on people who come into contact with drug users on a daily basis.

The comments came after a Commons debate on drugs policy last month, in which Bob Ainsworth MP called for more debate on drugs policy.

The government published a drug strategy in December, warning that methadone prescription was often not the best treatment option.

Mr Salmond backed pharmacy’s role in Scotland though. "Community pharmacists have the highest level of contact with people with drug problems and play a vital role in enabling them to recover," he said.

He added: "I would like to take this opportunity (…) to express my sincere appreciation for the work all of you do, every day, in supporting people with drug problems towards recovery."

After the UK drug strategy was announced Mr Ainsworth warned the House of Commons: "When we talk about emphasis on cure, we should be mindful that rehabilitation is massively expensive. The Government are not about to start funding mass rehabilitation and are in fact cutting drug treatment programme."