‘Trainspotting generation’ who can’t kick drugs habit

Middle-aged addicts put Scotland at top of European death table

SCOTLAND has the second highest rate of drug deaths i n Europe due to t he ‘Trainspotting generation’ of heroin addicts.

More people die from drug abuse here than i n Russia, Scandinavia or Northern Ireland, according to the latest World Drugs Report from the United Nations.

Almost 500 Scots a year die from drug abuse – but young people are increasingly saying no to drugs.

Those most at risk are middleaged, many of whom have been injecting for more than 20 years.

Experts are most worried about this older generation, who became addicted in the 1980s and 1990s. Edinburgh’s drug scene in the 1990s was memorably portrayed in the film Trainspotting, starring Ewan McGregor.

But the Trainspotting generation never gave up, according to the latest figures, which show heroin and morphine remain the biggest killers north of the Border, found in the bodies of half of those who died in 2013.

David Liddell, director of the Scottish Drugs Forum, said: ‘Scotland now has an ageing population of problematic drug users who have multiple health problems, which means they are at greater risk of overdose death. Some of this older population are also very isolated and suffering significant mental health problems, which means some overdose deaths may well be suicides or ambivalence about the consequences of their drug use.’

The NHS is battling to support almost 60,000 drug users in Scotland, with thousands parked on heroin replacement methadone.

But an official estimate from 2012-13 suggested less than half are receiving the treatment they need from the main drug services.

Only Estonia saw more drug deaths than Scotland in this year’s UN World Drugs Report.

Scotland is ahead of Finland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Russia, Norway and Ireland, which also have a drug death rate of more than 70 people for every million aged between 15 and 64.

Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw described the figures as ‘unacceptable’ and said: ‘Just like our relationship with alcohol, these figures prove we cannot take our eye off the ball and let drug abuse go unchallenged.

‘What we need is a drugs strategy which has some real prospect of success. I hope the SNP Government takes action to see these numbers drop in future years.’

The effect of the Trainspotting generation is clear in the trends, which show two-thirds of drug addicts who died in 2013 were over 35, compared to only half in 2009. There are fears these people are the hardest to help, because they have been on methadone and engaged with drug treatment services unsuccessfully for years.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Fewer Scots are taking drugs – the number of adults reporting drug use fell by 1.4 percentage points over the period 2008-2013 and is continuing to fall amongst the general adult population, while drug-taking among young people is at its lowest level in a decade.

‘ There i s no one size fits all approach to treating problem drug use and it is important to note that some of those affected recover outwith traditional service provision.’