That's all from Holyrood Live on Thursday 30 January 2020.

Nicola Sturgeon and Jackson Carlaw clashed over education during the final first minister's questions before Brexit.

The Tories accused Nicola Sturgeon's government of "unmitigated failure" on education, after figures showed pass rates for two-thirds of Highers had fallen in the last five years.

Interim Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said pass rates were down in 32 of the 46 subjects secondary school pupils can study at Higher level.

Mr Carlaw highlighted the figures as he condemned the Scottish government for using parliamentary time on Wednesday to debate independence and whether the European flag should fly outside Holyrood after Brexit.

But Ms Sturgeon insisted pass rates are still rising for most of the 10 most popular Higher subjects.

She told MSPs: "The 10 top subjects in our education system, the ones that there are the highest number of entries for, the ones that most pupils do, the majority of them compared to 2015 have pass rates that have improved."

"I will not stand here while Jackson Carlaw talks down education in Scotland in the way he does."

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Image source, Scottish Parliament

MSPs agree the government motion from the drugs and alcohol debate, as amended by Labour, is agreed to, with 86 MSPs backing it and with 28 against.

The Labour amendment is agreed to unanimously.

The Lib Dem amendment is rejected with 20 MSPs backing it and with 94 against.

The Tory amendment was defeated with 28 MSPs backing it and with 86 against.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Image source, Scottish Parliament

The 2019 MESAS (Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy) report said:

• The average Scottish adult bought 19 units of alcohol per week (The UK recommended limit was 14 units a week for men and women).
• The annual volume of "pure alcohol" in drinks sold in Scotland was 9.9 litres per adult, down about 3% from 10.2 litres in 2017.
• The volume of alcohol is 9% higher than in England and Wales (9.1 litres) - the smallest difference since 2003.
• Since 2010 the volume of pure alcohol sold per adult through supermarkets and off-licences has fallen by 9% in Scotland.
• It has risen by 3% in England and Wales over the same period.

Image source, Getty Images

Last year a cross-party group of MPs and peers urged the home secretary to sanction supervised drug consumption facilities, or "fix rooms".

Glasgow City Council first proposed the measure three years ago, but the plan has fallen foul of UK drug laws which are reserved to Westminster.

The Scottish government has repeatedly called for a change in law to establish safe consumption rooms.

These allow users to take their own drugs under the supervision of medical staff in a safe and clean environment.

The Home Office said there were no plans to allow consumption rooms.

• Scotland's drug crisis in six charts
• What can be done about Scotland's drugs crisis?
• Are UK drug consumption rooms likely

Image source, bbc

Police have recorded 388 drug deaths in Scotland in the first six months of 2019 and a further 296 deaths are being investigated as drug-related, according to figures seen by the BBC.

Last year's annual statistics were the highest since records began, with 1,187 fatalities in 2018.

The rise prompted parliamentary inquiries and action by the Scottish government.

• Scotland has highest drug death rate in EU
• 'I lost my whole family to drugs'

The data for 2019 is held by Police Scotland and if the cases being investigated are confirmed as drug deaths it would take the half-year total to 684 - higher than the same period last year.

Earlier this year,BBC Scotland's The Nine programme revealed the trend in online drug purchases in one community.

It has now returned to Dumfries and Galloway to tell the story of one rural addict and his partner.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

A UK-wide summit on tackling problem drug use will be held in Glasgow next month, it has been announced.

Drug recovery experts, senior police officers and government ministers from all four UK nations will attend the event.

The number of drug-related deaths in Scotland is at record levels, higher than that reported for any other EU country.

Both the UK and Scottish governments have committed to addressing the issue.

The Scottish government wants drug policy powers handed to Holyrood so it can alter policy to treat the issue as a public health, and not judicial, matter.

And the UK government said prevention and recovery are as important as enforcing drugs laws.

• Addicts' deaths highlight Scotland's drugs crisis
• What can be done about Scotland's drugs crisis?
• Scotland's drug death crisis in six charts
• Read more here

Image source, bbc

In 2018 Scotland's first drugs strategy for a decade focused on treating the issue as a public health concern rather than a criminal justice issue.

Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick said he had combined the strategy for drug and alcohol misuse, external because they had many solutions in common.

He said those with drug and drink problems often carried the burden of poverty, trauma and inequality.

The minister said support not stigmatisation was needed.

Read more here.

Ms Johnstone says we continue to fail those who experience alcohol or drug misuse at great cost to them and to society.

"This is a social justice issue," she explains.

The Green MSP says it is our collective responsibility to tackle this issue and reach those who are wrongly termed 'unreachable'.

"The systematic dehumanisation of drug users is nothing short of scandalous and I have no doubt at all it contributed to the high figure we are faced with today."

"There is much left to be done."

Image source, Getty Images

The amount of alcohol sold in Scotland's shops fell during the first year of minimum pricing but sales increased south of the border.

NHS research, externalfound the volume of pure alcohol sold per person dropped from 7.4 to 7.1 litres - a fall of 3.6%.

In England and Wales - where minimum pricing was not implemented - the volume rose from 6.3 to 6.5 litres.

The biggest impact of minimum unit pricing (MUP) was on cider sales which fell by nearly a fifth (18.6%).

The price of cider rose by 13p per unit on average to 56p following the law change.

Fortified wine - which had no price change from 60p per unit - was the only drink to show an increase, up 16.4%.

• Research needed on minimum pricing and underage drinkers
• Minimum pricing 'cuts drinking by half a pint a week'

Green MSP Alison Johnstone says it is too often the most marginalised and vulnerable people in society who experience alcohol and substance misuse.

"The Scottish Greens have long argued that drug deaths are a public health, not a criminal offence, issue."

The Misuse of Drug Act must be overhauled to minimise harm in what has become an epidemic, she adds.

The failures of this government on drug and alcohol will cast a long shadow and we do not have to look far beyond the walls of this chamber to see evidence of that, Mr Cole-Hamilton states.

He points to missed waiting times for drug treatments and also highlights pain caused by delays in receiving toxicology reports for drug-related deaths.

Delaying confirmation of the cause of death can prevent families from feeling closure, he suggests.

He agrees there should be a change in approach with regards to justice but highlights that in 2018 more people were imprisoned for personal drug use than were given treatment orders.

Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton says the government "must accept a large part of the blame" for drug deaths in Scotland.

He highlights it is double the rate of England and Wales so is not just down to UK government decisions.

Funding cuts result in the withdrawal of services and understaffing, he says.

He expresses concern that the Dundee drugs commission recommendations have not been taken forward, including same-day prescriptions for methadone.

The Labour MSP reiterates her push for a legal definition of a drug emergency and she welcomes the government's acknowledgement that this is a public health emergency.

Ms Lennon calls for "urgent and transparent action" and a "clear nationally coordinated response" to this emergency.

She cites the drastic situation in Dundee, with the highest death rate in Europe, and asks: "Why do we continue to move at a snail's pace when people's lives are at risk?"

Ms Lennon says: "We need to make urgent changes at a UK level, at a Scottish level and in all of our communities."

The Labour MSP backs the Scottish government call for reform of the Misuse of Drugs Act and she criticises the Tory amendment that would delete this.

Her amendment sets out the need for adequate funding she explains.

The Labour MSP adds: "We do believe we can be bolder with the powers we have."

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe and the numbers are continuing to rise at an alarming speed. What can be done about Scotland's drug death crisis?