The death toll due to drug addiction in Scotland has risen to record levels with highest increases in deaths among older and long-term male users according to new figures.
And Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing warned that the death toll would continue to rise as a legacy of the heroin abuse that gripped Edinburgh and Glasgow over the 1980’s and 1990’s.
There were 574 drug-related deaths in 2008, 119 (26%) more than in 2007 and 325 (131%) more than in 1998 the General Register Office for Scotland announced yesterday.
The number of drug-related deaths rose in eight of the past ten years and the report concludes that the long-term trend seems steadily upwards. Some 80% of the deaths were of men with 37% aged 25-34 and a further 30% aged 35-44.
The Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board area accounted for 34% of the deaths, Lothian for 16%, and Tayside for 9%.
The only positive notes in the report were a fall in deaths of people aged under 25 and a decrease in deaths due to temazepam.
Heroin and/or morphine were reported as present in the body in 336 cases (59%), methadone was present in 181 cases (32 %), benzodiazepines in 364 cases (63 %), cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamines were present in 79, 7 and 12 cases respectively, and alcohol was mentioned in 273 cases.
The main trends comparing 2003-2007 with 1996-2000 show a marked rise in deaths for which heroin and/or morphine, cocaine and alcohol were reported and not much change in the numbers of deaths related to methadone, diazepam and ecstasy.
Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing said long-term strategies have been put in place to try to tackle the problem; "These figures demonstrate the real impact of drug misuse which extends far beyond the individual drug user - it destroys lives.
"As a legacy of long-term drug misuse over recent decades, drug-related deaths may continue to rise over the next few years, especially among older men, which is exactly why we have put in place a strategy to turn the situation around. It's a long-term problem with no single solution. That is why we must continue to take action to tackle this issue now and for the long-term.
"We launched, in January this year, a new drug-related deaths database to look at the circumstances behind each death, rather than just counting numbers, so that local partners can put in place appropriate interventions.
"We are also funding overdose awareness training for drug users, their family and friends, so they know what to do in the event of an overdose. In addition, we are jointly funding research, with EU partners, that seeks to explore issues around older problem drug users because in the main these are the people who are dying.
"We know that all too often misuse of drugs and alcohol go hand in hand and these figures are proof of that with alcohol being present in around half of these deaths. This again underlines the need to tackle alcohol misuse. Our Alcohol Framework, which includes plans to introduce a minimum price and ban irresponsible promotions, aims to do just that."
