Mr Hingston says legalising drugs would bring control to the problem

Former procurator fiscal David Hingston said the battle against drugs in Scotland was being lost.

He has suggested that all banned substances should be made legal in a bid to bring the growing problem back under control.

However, the Scottish Tories described Mr Hingston's call as "naive and irresponsible".

Mr Hingston, 57, was a procurator fiscal for 26 years and is now a defence solicitor based in Inverness.

Citing Amsterdam as an example, he said that if drugs were legalised, they would be available under a controlled system.

I think it's quite incredible that a leading lawyer such as Mr Hingston would advocate such a path Mary Scanlon Conservative MSP

"The present situation is not working and one way of changing it is to legalise drugs. There are more crimes committed because of alcohol than because of illegal drugs," he said.

"At the moment people are using drugs in a criminal field - let's get away from that by moving it into a legalised field.

"By having it underground, we have less control and the fact of the matter is that we are not winning this war against drugs."

He added that if drugs were controlled legally then people "would also have some idea of what they are buying".

Mr Hingston said Amsterdam, where cannabis can be sold legally, was a good example.

''Extremely unhelpful'

"There is a control to what they can do in the way of cannabis and they are not allowed to sell heroin," he said.

"Heroin could be made available only through a doctor. At the moment they [addicts] don't have a clue what they are getting."

Conservative Highlands and Islands MSP, Mary Scanlon, said: "For a man who is respected in the legal profession to make these comments, I think is an extremely unhelpful contribution to the fight against drugs.

"I think it's quite incredible that a leading lawyer such as Mr Hingston would advocate such a path.