City drug deaths on course to be worst on record

The number of drugrelated deaths in Dundee is on course to be the highest on record this year. New figures, yet to be released publicly, have shown there were 67 drug deaths in the city in the 2019-20 recording period – the same as the previous year.

However, during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, from April to June, there were 26 fatalities relating to substance misuse, sparking fears the total may soar to more than 100 by the end of the year.

Since 2016, the drug death rate in Dundee has surged and there are fears Covid-19 has set back work to reduce the toll.

Simon Little, the independent chairman of Dundee Alcohol and Drug Partnership, said last month that progress had been made on “reaching out” to high-risk users but coronavirus restrictions had slowed down some vital work.

The pandemic has also delayed the official publication of statistics for the city and Scotland overall but new figures seen by The Courier show the numbers are not going down.

Lochee Labour councillor Michael Marra said: “These figures strongly suggest that rather than drugs deaths falling, the current year may well be the worst on record.

“Should the number of deaths in the first quarter be replicated across the rest of the year the number of Dundonians lost in these dreadful circumstances could be over 100.

“That is an utterly intolerable situation.”

The Dundee Drug Commission was formed three years ago to examine the city ’s issue with substance misuse.

Last year, a damning report said radical change was needed to repair a “fractured” addiction support system.

As the commission has been unable to meet during the pandemic to discuss the latest drug death figures, a spokesperson said members would be unable to comment.

Mr Marra has now called on Dundee City Council officers to provide timescales for when action can be taken, in light of coronavirus delays.

The Scottish Affairs Committee called for the crisis to be declared a public health emergency last month but this was rejected by the UK Government.

John Alexander, Dundee City Council leader and chairman of the partnership, said there would be “no quick wins’” in tackling the crisis.

“Sadly and no matter how much we collectively want to, you don’t turn around a drug problem that has existed for 20-plus years in the space of a year or two,” he said.

Dundee’s reputation as one of the world’s drug death capitals has long been a source of civic shame, as well as personal tragedy. So the creation of the city’s Drug Commission and the publication of its recommendations were seen as a turning point in Dundee’s fortunes and a cause for hope that some of its most vulnerable citizens would receive the support they deserved.

It is regrettable then that the more pressing concerns of the coronavirus crisis appear to have derailed much of the progress that has been made.

The Courier has obtained new figures showing there were 26 drug deaths at the peak of the pandemic from April to June.

If the figures remain at that level for the remaining quarter of the year, the final total is likely to far exceed the 67 fatalities in the last two years, and may even take the toll beyond 100.

The Dundee Alcohol and Drug Partnership has already acknowledged the public health restrictions have slowed down vital work.

Now we learn the Drug Commission has been unable to meet to discuss the latest figures due to the pandemic, so is unwilling to comment on them.

Might we suggest members find a way to do so before the situation worsens.

To sit it out while drugs deaths spiral to record breaking levels would leave a terrible legacy in this extraordinary year.