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The Scottish justice secretary has told the SNP conference in Perth that he wants to "use the money seized from crooks in a series of anti-knife crime initiatives in Scotland’s communities".
Kenny McAskill said £19.5 million siezed from those involved in serious organised crime has already been invested in projects across Scotland through the CashBack scheme.
"We now want to consult on extending the law to crack down on even more gangsters sending out a clear message on the streets that if you commit these crimes, we'll be taking your fancy cars, your expensive houses, and anything else gained through illegal activity – and we'll be giving it back to hard-working families," he said.
"The knife culture that affects some communities in Scotland continues to take too many lives and devastate too many families.
"The Scottish government is committed to tackling the culture around violence in Scotland and this investment, which has come directly from the money seized from criminals, will help projects across the country educate Scotland's youngsters about the dangers of carrying a knife."
Scotland's finance minister John Swinney also addressed the SNP conference today.
He said the Scottish government has been leading the way with efficiency savings.
"The Scottish budget allocated to central administration is a quarter lower than the comparable UK government figure," Swinney told conference.
"The UK's March budget showed that it took the UK government a year and a half to reach the same level of savings that we did in just 12 months."
Swinney said the Edinburgh administration has already reduced the number of public bodies by a quarter, saving £125 million by 2013 and a further £39 million every year after that.
He said he had cut the Scottish government central administration budget by £14 million over 2009-10, delivered savings of £90 million in procurement, reduced electricity costs by £10 million, cut publication costs by 50 per cent, reduced travel costs by a million pounds between 2008-09 and 2009-10 and cut the budget for centrally funded marketing by 50 per cent in 2010 – 11.
"Last year we made efficiency savings of £839 million - £300 million above our target," Swinney said.
"And we are building on that success.
"Today I can announce that we have exceeded our targets once again with even greater efficiency savings.
"We have saved almost £1.5 billion over 2009-10 - £400 million over and above our target.
"Westminster parties might talk about making efficiency savings but we are delivering efficient government for Scotland.
"In a period of financial constraint when we are asking people to tighten their belts it is only right that we tighten ours.
"Every pound we achieve in efficiency is a pound we can use to protect frontline services.
"My message to the public sector in Scotland is to focus on securing the maximum value for money we can.
"That way we can work to protect frontline services. That is the relentless focus of this SNP government."
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