Scotland is failing to turn around our shameful drug deaths crisis, according to latest figures. The latest quarterly death count of 298 is the worst in almost two years, since June 2021.
Suspected drug deaths in the first three months of 2023 were five per cent up on the same period last year, figures suggest. Drawn from Police Scotland management data, the numbers follow equally depressing news for the previous three months, when 295 died.
The latest bombshell follows a period of small reductions in deaths which gave a glimmer of hope things were improving. Deaths have kept piling up despite a National Mission on drugs, announced by Nicola Sturgeon in 2021 and backed by £250 million funding over five years.
Scotland’s previous drugs minister promised “radical action” on drugs services but the sector has faced extreme delays in implementing key, rights-based MAT standards. The Scottish Government has also failed to make progress on Drug Consumption Rooms, dragging its heels for more than four year.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said Scotland is caught in an ongoing ‘public health disaster’. He said: “These figures are stories of lives cut short and potential extinguished. They are stories of opportunities lost, families and friends grieving.
“Every drug death is preventable, so I will never understand why Nicola Sturgeon, by her own admission, took her eye off the ball and cut the support people relied upon. The result was a public health disaster and Scotland’s drug deaths are now many times worse than anywhere else in Europe.”
He has called for the immediate introduction of specialist drug commissions and for safe consumption rooms to be set up across Scotland. Sue Webber, drugs policy spokeswoman for the Scottish Tories, said the figures were “utterly inexcusable”.
She added: “Despite these deeply concerning figures, we are continuing to see precious little action from SNP ministers to get on top of this national emergency. Frontline services are still at breaking point.”
The Scottish Government’s quarterly report on suspected drug deaths uses Police Scotland management data on suspected overdose deaths. Data suggests 298 lives were lost between January and March this year, three more than the previous quarter.
There have been 13 more suspected deaths this year than there were in the first months of last year. The number of female deaths rose by 14 per cent to 98 suspected deaths, compared to the same quarter last year. Males accounted for 67 per cent of death.
In the 12 months to March 2023, suspected drug deaths fell by seven per cent to 1,105. There were 1,092 suspected drug deaths in 2022 - 16 per cent fewer than the ‘suspected’ total for 2021. But 295 of these deaths occurred from October to December 2022 - the highest in a single quarter since April to June 2021.
Drugs and alcohol policy minister Elena Whitham said: “My deepest sympathy goes to all those affected by the loss of a loved one from drugs.
“I am focused on supporting those affected by problem substance use, delivering real change on the ground and implementing evidence-based approaches to improve and save lives. We’re focused on getting more people into the form of treatment which works best for them.
“Through our £250 million national mission on drugs, we have continued to expand residential rehabilitation, supported 300 grassroots projects, and continued to drive implementation of the medication assisted treatment (MAT) standards which support the consistent delivery of safe, accessible, high-quality, drug treatment across Scotland.
“We’re also working towards introducing safer drug consumption facilities, as well as a pilot scheme to deliver drug-checking facilities.”
“This quarterly management information is part of a wider surveillance approach being undertaken by Public Health Scotland to ensure a quick response to what is happening on the ground.
“Following a previous alert on Nitazenes which pose a substantial risk of overdose, hospitalisation and death, we continue to support partners to raise awareness of the risks and to deliver vital harm reduction services, including provision of Naloxone.”
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