Emergency services / ‘What more can be done?’: Calls to tackle rise in drug driving in Shetland
SHETLAND’S police chief has been asked “what more can be done” to tackle rising drug-driving levels in the isles.
Area commander Chris Sewell said officers in Shetland had caught “twice as many drug drivers” as drink-drivers between April and September this year.
It comes after the introduction of a new drug wipe kit in the isles, which has helped officers detect more cases of drug-driving.
Shetland was a testing ground for the swabs, which have now been rolled out further after their success here.
Police caught 19 drivers under the influence of either drink or drugs between April and September 2025, Sewell told the community safety and resilience board’s latest meeting.
That was more than they caught in the entirety of the 2024/25 financial year – when 16 drivers were charged with drink or drug driving offences.
Board chairman Allison Duncan pointed out that there had been increases in Orkney and Western Isles over the last six months as well.
He said the high rates of drug-driving in Shetland were something he had been aware of for a long time.
And he asked Sewell: “What more can be done?”
The chief inspector said his officers were “doing their best” and had been “proactive about stopping people”.
“What more can be done is the message,” he said.
“We want to get the message out that it’s absolutely unacceptable to drive under the influence of drink or drugs.”
A winter safety campaign would be launched at the end of November, he said, to try to discourage people from getting behind the wheel while under the influence over the Christmas period.
“Hopefully we don’t see a spike in the festive period, as we tend to do,” he added.
Shetland was selected to host a six-month pilot of the drug wipes late last year.
The swabs were used 30 times between early December and June with a 50 per cent detection rate.
If the result indicates that drugs are present, the driver is arrested and taken to the police station to give a blood sample.
The blood sample is then sent to an accredited laboratory which can analyse the presence of drugs.
The scheme has been rolled out to North Aberdeenshire and East Ayrshire over the last month.
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