EARLIER this week, we reported on this site that Addaction, which provides drug and alcohol addiction services in Argyll and Bute, has welcomed a vote at the SNP conference to back decriminalising the possession and consumption of drugs.

You can read Addaction's response here. But the news of the SNP conference vote attracted a predictable response from some, as critics jumped on the chance to portray the SNP as being soft on crime and on criminals.

But drug use, and the misery and devastation it causes, is too important an issue to be treated as a party political football.

And it was predictable, too, that those who labelled the SNP conference decision as a “free for all on drugs” failed to come up with a single alternative idea to tackle the problem, besides the simplistic one of imposing tougher and tougher punishments.

The first thing to point out is that the use of controlled drugs in Scotland is not, in itself, a criminal offence. Possession, production, supply, possession with intent to supply, and many others, yes. Use, no.

READ MORE: Addaction charity backs drug decriminalisation call

From my regular Dumbarton Sheriff Court beat, where I regularly see the effects drug use has on our communities, I know that the criminal justice system is smarter – across all areas of offending, not just drug use – than a simple ‘punish, punish, punish’ approach.

At sheriff court level, I don't often see someone in the dock who is being prosecuted solely for drug possession, either. Possession charges do crop up all the time, but usually they're accompanied by other charges, such as assault, violent or threatening behaviour, being in possession of an offensive weapon, or other drug-related offences.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said earlier this month that it has "no default response to a charge of possession of drugs". That was in response to media reports that police in North Wales are to offer drug users rehab instead of prison.

The COPFS also pointed out that under current arrangements, Scotland's prosecutors already divert drug users to support services "where appropriate".

At Dumbarton Sheriff Court, the powers available to our local judges can include sentencing offenders to a Drug Treatment and Testing Order – a lengthy, and onerous, rehabilitation programme which includes regular unannounced checks on whether an offender still has drugs in their system.

READ MORE: Argyll and Bute drug deaths more than double in 11 years

It can also involve Community Payback Orders, many of which see offenders agreeing to be supervised by social workers. That supervision can include 'conduct requirements', in which an offender must - no ifs, no buts - attend drug and alcohol counselling or treatment whenever their supervisor tells them to do so.

And alternatives to prosecution are already being used by the police all across Scotland. Officers in Glasgow said this week that they can no longer simply arrest their way out of the city’s drugs crisis, and that directing drug users towards support is a far more effective way of tackling the issue.

Sometimes those alternative approaches don't work. But there is no magic wand when it comes to dealing with those whose addiction to drugs sees them turn to crime.

Punishment certainly doesn't work on its own – not least because being in prison is no guarantee of cutting off access to drugs. And it's true that ultimately, the justice system may well just run out of options, having tried rehabilitation and punishment without success. When that happens it tends to mean one of two things: either the addicts gets clean of their own accord, or they don't, and their addiction brings their life to an early end.

READ MORE: New addiction recovery project launched in Helensburgh and Lomond

I am not for a moment suggesting – and I don’t think any of those who backed the SNP conference motion are suggesting, either – that all drug-related offences be decriminalised. Production, supply, possession with intent to supply and so on are all very serious matters, and offenders must continue to be severely punished.

But Scotland’s drug problem is bad, and getting worse, and dealing with it properly requires realism – not idealism, ideology or point-scoring.