New figures from Scotland show that methadone is now the main source of drugs deaths north of the border.

The British Government spends an estimated £800 million a year on what it calls "addiction treatment" but less than 2% of this is used to fund people to go into residential rehab. Most of the budget is spent on "revolving door" treatments such as home detoxes, community interventions and replacement drugs such as methadone.

Often, dependence of any kind is presumed - without reflection - to be a problem that must be solved. For the record, every human being depends on air, food and water - are we all sick, or defective, for this reason?