Etizolam implicated in deaths across the region

The“blue plague”was implicated in 57 of the deaths from drugs recorded in North Lanarkshire during 2020.

Often referred to as “street valium,” Etizolam joined Methadone – a prescribed heroin substitute – as a major cause in the area’s 94 drugs deaths last year, with the latter implicated in 40 of the recorded deaths.

The latest statistics from National Records of Scotland reveal that more than two thirds of those that died were men (64) – 30 were female.

The number is down by one on the previous year and only one of the 94 deaths was caused by drug abuse.

The cause of death was determined as accidental poisoning in 85 deaths, another seven were considered to be intentional self-poisoning, and in one the intent could not be determined.

Some of those who died had a concoction of drugs in their systems at the time.

Of the deaths in North Lanarkshire, opiates or opioids were implicated in 83, with Etizolam implicated in 57 of them.

Heroin or morphine were implicated in 43; in another, 40 methadone was implicated; and street benzodiazepines were implicated in 62.

Of those who died, 34 had cocaine in their systems, 18 had consumed alcohol, five had taken amphetamines, and just two had taken ecstasy-type drugs.

Men are more than two-and-a-half times as likely to have a drug related death than woman. And people living in the most deprived areas were 18 times as likely to die from a drug-related death as those in the least deprived.

People aged between 35 and 54 made up close to two thirds of all drug-related deaths.

Across Scotland as a whole the number of deaths from drugs was up around five per cent with the total recorded at 1339, up from 1280 in 2019. That’s the highest number since records began in 1996.

The average age of those dying has risen from 32 to 43 years over the last two decades.

The country’s drug-death rate remains higher than that of any European country and three-and-a-half times that in the UK as a a whole.

In North Lanarkshire, which had a recorded population of 340,180 during 2020, the average number of drug deaths per 100,000 population was 21.3.

That was slightly above the national average of 20.6 per 100,000 population, with Scotland recorded as having a population of 5,438,100.

South Lanarkshire recorded a huge increase in the number of people who died from drugs in 2020, up from 68 the previous year to 91.

David Liddell, CEO of the Scottish Drugs Forum, labelled the failure to prevent people dying from drug overdose a “national disgrace”.

He added: “New standards for drug treatment were published in May of this year. These should transform services – not just the processes involved but the whole culture of treatment which should empower people and give them choice and control in their lives.

“These new standards need to be implemented as a national priority. To be clear, treatment services will not transform themselves.

“Change will require investment, leadership and higher expectations from the Scottish public, people who may use treatment services, their families and communities.”

Scottish Greens MSP Gillian Mackay claimed the war on drugs had failed and it was time for a change of strategy.

She said: “Every single one of these deaths is a preventable tragedy. The tragic figures are yet another reminder of the devastating impact drug misuse has on communities in North Lanarkshire and across Scotland.

“The approach to drugs, pursued by both the UK and Scottish governments, must change. The war on drugs has demonstrably failed, it’s long past time we treated this crisis as the public health emergency that it is.

“It is time for an approach which focuses on restoring people’s dignity and treating their addiction, rather than criminalising them.

“While long term plans are now being developed to tackle this crisis, they come far too late for many. And for those in crisis now, they need to see urgent action, not more empty words.”

To find out more about Etizolam and its effects, visit https://www.nhsaaa.net/media/4654/etizolam_ infosheet_sdf_drugwatch1_1-2.pdf

Worrying findings The “blue plague” was a major cause in the area’s 94 drug deaths in 2020