Drug death rate doubles Street Valium behind tragedy
He said: “This statistic should act as a wake- up call to everyone involved.
“The drug strategy followed by the Scottish Government has simply failed and it has not been helped by ministers cutting the funding for drug and alcohol partnerships by £ 20 million.
“We need to see a substantially different approach taken to drug misuse, which has at its heart the principle that drug addiction needs to be ended rather than managed through substitute substances like methadone.
“We need a strategy that sees addicts brought off drugs and supported back to a functioning lifestyle.”
S c o t l a n d ’ s h e a l t h secretary, Ayrshire MSP Jeane Freeman, insisted money is being ploughed into the problem from Holyrood.
She said: “Over the past decade the SNP government have invested some £ 746 million to tackle problem alcohol and drug use, with more than £ 70 million this financial year.
“It is encouraging that recent data shows that the number of young adults using drugs is decreasing ( 7.6 per cent in 2008- 09 to 6 per cent in 2014- 15).
“Rising drug deaths are predominantly being driven by a group of long- term drug users who have become more vulnerable as they grow older, experiencing a range of chronic medical conditions.
“The Scottish Government is collaborating with a range of sectors including justice, mental health, employability and housing to ensure that measures are in place both to prevent drug use and to provide high quality person centred care and support for those who are most at risk.”