Scotland records largest fall in drug deaths but rate still 2.7 times UK average | Scotland

Scotland has recorded its largest fall in drug deaths, but the number is still almost three times higher than the average for the UK as a whole.

Data from National Records of Scotland (NRS) showed there were 1,051 deaths due to drug misuse in 2022 – a drop of 279 on the previous year. It is the second year in a row that drugs deaths have fallen, although the total for 2021 dropped by just nine from the record high seen in 2020, when 1,339 people died.

The data showed the rate of “drug poisoning deaths” in Scotland was 2.7 times higher than the average for the UK in 2021 – the most recent year for which comparisons are available.

While the number of deaths linked to drugs misuse is at its lowest since 2017, the NRS report made clear that the rate of deaths was still much higher than it was when records began in 1996. It found that “after adjusting for age, there were 3.7 times as many drug misuse deaths in 2022 as in 2000”.

Scotland had 19.8 drug misuse deaths for every 100,000 people in the country in 2022, according to the data, down from 25 in 2021. Death rates were almost 16 times higher in the most deprived parts of the country, at 52.4 for every 100,000 people, compared with 3.3 for every 100,000 in the most affluent areas.

The Glasgow city council area had the highest rate of drug misuse deaths over the period 2018 to 2022, at 44.4 deaths for every 100,000 people, with this closely followed by Dundee city, where the rate was 43.1.

In contrast, in East Renfrewshire the drug death rate was 9.5 for every 100,000 people, and it was 11.1 in Aberdeenshire.

Opioids, such as heroin and methadone, were involved in 867, or 82%, of the deaths in 2022, the data showed.

Meanwhile, benzodiazepines – such as diazepam – were implicated in 601 deaths, while cocaine was involved in 371. There were 476 drug misuse deaths where controlled new psychoactive substances were implicated, with some deaths having involved more than one type of drug.

The drug policy minister, Elena Whitham, welcomed the fall in the number of deaths, though she said: “My sympathy goes out to all those affected by the loss of a loved one through drugs. While I am pleased to see that hundreds of families have been spared this agony and lives have been saved, every life lost is a tragedy and the number of deaths is still too high.”

Ministers would “never underestimate the scale of the challenge we continue to face, including responding to new threats such as synthetic opioids and stimulant use”.

Speaking on a visit to the Back on the Road project in Glasgow, which helps those who have been affected by addiction get work, she said 300 such grassroots initiatives had been supported by the Scottish government.

Whitham added: “As part of our £250m national mission on drugs, we’ll continue to focus on getting more people into the form of treatment and support they need, expand access to residential rehabilitation and drive the rollout of life-saving medication assisted treatment standards, where we are making significant progress.”

However, she also said the UK government “could do more to work with us to help introduce harm reduction measures”.

The Scottish government has been pressing for a safe consumption facility to be set up, with efforts on this having so far been blocked by Westminster.