Why hopeful signs about Scotland's drug-deaths crisis may be eclipsed by terrifying new threat
There are fears that synthetic drugs up to 500 times more potent than heroin could soon bring the kind of mass deaths seen in the US
News that the number of drug-related deaths in Scotland fell by 13 per cent last year to the lowest level in eight years is more than welcome. However, it is little cause for celebration, given this country retains its unwanted title of ‘Europe’s drug-death capital’.
Nicola Sturgeon’s shocking admission in 2021 that her government had taken its “eye off the ball” as the number of fatalities soared highlighted the missed opportunities to tackle the problem early, before it got out of hand, and the lives that might have been saved.
Such was the resulting pressure brought to bear on SNP ministers over this issue, at the time we thought they would surely never make the same mistake again. However, until now, signs of genuine progress had been thin on the ground.
‘State-sponsored drug-taking’
A 13 per cent decrease does represent real hope – but only if it is sustained during the years to come and does not prove to be a temporary blip.
There is some evidence to suggest the new drug consumption rooms may be saving lives, although Scottish Conservative shadow drugs minister Annie Wells’ remark that “instead of state-sponsored drug-taking, the focus should be on treatment and rehab” is hard to disagree with. However, given the extent of the crisis, Scotland probably needs all three: consumption rooms, treatment, rehab and anything else at all that might help.
As ever with such ‘deaths of despair’, the poorest are suffering the most, with people living in the most deprived areas 12 times more likely to die from drugs than those in the wealthiest parts. And their problems may be about to get even worse as truly evil drug gangs push the latest synthetic drugs, some of which are 500 times more powerful than heroin.
In 2022 alone, a staggering 70,000 people died from using just one of these drugs, fentanyl, in the US. In Scotland, deaths from nitazenes rose from 23 in 2023 to 76 last year, which experts are warning may represent the start of a major public health emergency.
John Swinney and co have been warned. Taking their eye off the ball once again would be unforgiveable.