‘Disgraceful’ drug policies damned after 867 addicts die

THE SNP’s drug policy has been branded a ‘disgrace’, with record numbers of addicts dying despite being on heroin substitutes such as methadone.

‘Wonder drug’ antidote kits for drug users have failed to tackle a surge in overdoses, experts warn.

The disclosure comes in the latest breakdown of Scots fatalities, thought to be the highest rate in Europe.

A total of 867 users died after taking illegal or prescription drugs in 2016, more than double that of a decade ago.

They included 618 opioid-related deaths including heroin.

Newly published analysis of the deaths shows there are ‘complex’ reasons for the soaring rate. These include ageing heroin addicts with deteriorating health. Yet many still take the drug despite following treatment programmes.

Last night drug experts warned the deaths could not be blamed simply on the ‘Trainspotting generation’ but a failure of the country’s policies on tackling addiction.

Scots Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘These figures are hugely distressing and prove the need more than ever for a new strategy.

‘The fact so many are being prescribed methadone and then dying is nothing short of a disgrace. This is what happens when you lazily park people on a drug substitute with no prospect of ever beating the habit.

‘It’s time ministers got round the table to seek new ideas to address this tragic loss of life.’

Most deaths involved multiple drugs and almost half of those who died in 2016 had been addicts for 20 years or more.

Thirty-seven per cent had been prescribed a substitute such as methadone, a rate which has crept up from 21 per cent of fatalities in 2009.

Methadone was present in almost half of drug-related

‘No prospect of breaking habit’

deaths, according to the report by NHS research wing ISD Scotland.

It found 77 per cent of victims had contact with a drug treat- ment agency in their final six months.

Take-home naloxone kits are handed out to addicts as they can reverse the effects of an overdose.

More than 37,000 kits have been issued since 2011 to cut heroin overdose deaths but only 26 per cent of 724 users who died had been given a kit.

The NHS said kits reduce deaths but ‘existing provision had not prevented substantial increases in deaths’ as some addicts had no one with them to administer the naloxone.

Dr Neil McKeganey, of the Centre for Substance Use Research, said: ‘The Scottish Government seem to say these deaths are the effect of a “Trainspotting generation”, as if these people are predisposed to die. But this is a by-product of indiscriminate use of methadone.

‘Our continuing pursuit of a methadone programme reflects a policy failure. Naloxone has been promoted as a wonder drug that will save lives but it has not worked because the circumstances of drug users’ lives are so chaotic.’

Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell said: ‘We are launching a drug and alcohol treatment strategy supported with £20million funding a year.’