The number of drug overdose deaths in Scotland fell marginally to 1,330 last year, the first decrease in this statistic in eight years.
According to statistics from National Records for Scotland (NRS), there were nine fewer fatalities than the 1,339 reported the year before.
However, Scotland still has the highest drug-related fatality rate of any nation in Europe.
Since 2013, the increasing trend has been quickening.
The most recent number of 1,330 is still the second-highest annual total on record, and the drug abuse rate in Scotland is still almost 3.7 times higher than the UK average.
The minister for drugs policy in Scotland, Angela Constance, said the emergency situation would be addressed “at pace” despite the fact that the number of deaths was still “unacceptable.”
“These most recent data make for yet more tragic reading,” she said. I am adamant that we can use this halt in the upward trend of recent years as a platform for genuine change even though there is still a great deal of work to be done since every life spared means one less family grieving.
“My current focus is on implementing new investments and taking action to enhance services and increase access to the treatments that are effective for each individual.”
Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, referred to the drug fatality rates as “off-the-scale dreadful” and “so particularly awful” when compared to other European nations.
And over two thirds (70%) of those who passed away were men, and 65% of them were between the ages of 35 and 54.
For the five-year period from 2017 to 2021, Dundee City has the highest death rate of any local jurisdiction (45.2 per 100,000 residents), followed by Glasgow City (44.4) and Inverclyde (35.7).
Drug-related deaths were 15 times more likely to occur among residents of the most deprived districts than among those of the least disadvantaged.
More than one substance was discovered in the body in 93 percent of all drug overdose deaths.
