A record number of people in Scotland are dying from drugs, according to figures published yesterday which show that the number of fatalities has risen by 72 per cent in the past decade.
Opposition politicians demanded an immediate investigation into the problem after what appeared to be the worst figures for drug deaths ever published in Scotland.
One expert said that the rising number was linked to cutbacks in funding for anti-drug projects.
A total of 613 people died as a result of drugs in 2014. This figure represents a 16 per cent increase on 2013 and the first time in three years that the numbers have gone up.
A total of 309 deaths were attributed to heroin or morphine, while methadone, the prescribed heroin substitute, was involved in 214.
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Cocaine was involved in 45 deaths, ecstasy in 14 and amphetamines 22.
The figures contained information about new psychoactive substances, or legal highs, for the first time. They showed that legal highs had contributed to 62 deaths, but only seven of these were thought to have been caused by legal highs alone.
The greatest concentration of drug deaths (189, or 31 per cent) was in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, with 17 per cent in Lothian (105) and 11 per cent (67) in Lanarkshire.
Paul Wheelhouse, Scotland’s minister for community safety, insisted that there had been “some progress” in dealing with drug problems in Scotland, but he added: “Scotland still faces a huge challenge in tackling the damaging effects of long-term drug use among an ageing cohort of individuals.
“This group often have long-term, chronic health problems as a result of sustained and, in many cases, increasingly chaotic drug-use issues.
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“We are undertaking work to better understand the needs of particular sub-groups and to better understand what role the purity, or strength, of illicit drugs is playing in increasing fatalities.”
Changes in drugs classification were cited by the report as one underlying reason for the rise. Tramadol and zopiclone became controlled drugs last year.
The report also revealed that the average age of people in Scotland dying of drug-related causes has further increased to 40 in 2014, up from 28 in 1996 when recording began.
Mr Wheelhouse said that the Scottish government was committed to tackling the problem of legal highs. “These substances are not legal if sold for human consumption, and their use can, and does, have fatal consequences,” he said.
Calum Murray, director of adult care services at CrossReach, which operates drugs support services across the country, said there was a link between drug deaths and financial cutbacks. “It would appear to be related — that less funding for treatment leads to more deaths.”
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Graeme Pearson, Labour’s justice spokesman, said the Scottish government had to do more and had to investigate why there were so many more drug deaths. He said: “For eight years, the SNP government has had little to say about drugs. Four years ago, we saw a record high in drug-related deaths, and now we see another one.
“The Scottish government should investigate why there has been such a large spike . . . Any response will need a joined-up approach, across health, welfare, education and justice, but the first step from the SNP government has to be recognising there is a problem here.”