As drug-related deaths hit a record high in Scotland, it’s time to stop making excuses and take action

In 2019, 1,264 people died in Scotland as a result of drug use – a new record. England has also experienced a record number of drug-related deaths, with 76.7 per million dying as a result of drug use. But Scotland’s rate is three and a half times that of England with over 295 deaths per million.  

Scotland now has the highest death rate per capita of any Western country including America, which has been savaged by opiate related deaths in recent years. The majority of these deaths were attributed to individuals who had combined heroin with street-sourced benzodiazepines like Xanax or diazepam. Although heroin use is a long-established problem the rising availability and use of benzodiazepines has been particularly rife in Scotland. Like heroin, they suppress breathing when consumed in higher quantities and this is likely to have played a part in fuelling the record rise in deaths.

Two years ago, the Scottish government declared these deaths a “public health emergency” and set up a task force to establish why the death rate was so high and what could be done to reduce it. A cross-party Westminster committee made a number of recommendations to the UK government – some were radical, including decriminalising drugs and establishing safe drug consumption rooms. But many were far from progressive, such as suggesting that optimal therapeutic doses of substitute drugs for heroin be routinely given and rapid access to treatment. Radical or not all the recommendations were rejected out of hand by Westminster.  

While the Scottish government has responsibility for health and social care, Westminster controls drug policy. So, despite Westminster stubbornness, the Scottish government has the power to introduce some of these recommendations. It is certainly not the time to be playing politics as the two governments try to score political points over each other.

Despite some politicians despicably writing these deaths off as merely “an ageing cohort of heroin users”, these are people aged between 35-54, far from old by anyone’s standards given life expectancy has reached record levels in the UK. Crudely explaining away these premature deaths in this way is somehow viewed as acceptable but would be unthinkable if these were deaths due to cancer or heart disease.

Adding to the lack of value and urgency that politicians approach drug-related deaths there has been a six-month delay in just counting how many have died. This compounds the lack of value families and loved ones already feel in relation to those they have lost. As we have learnt with Covid, having accurate and timely data is critical in informing efforts to counter premature deaths. This delay is unforgiveable - drug-related deaths have been rising for years, ensuring there was capacity to process the surge in forensic toxicology tests used to establish cause of death should have been planned for and provided.

The inevitable excuses and promises will be made by politicians north and south of the border when responding to this record rise in fatalities. It’s sobering to think for every day that they continue to talk but fail to act another three Scots will die.