‘Destination city’ takes title of drug death capital of Europe

IT may be ranked one of ten ‘hot destinations’ for 2018, alongside Shanghai, Madagascar and the Faroe Islands.

But only 100 yards from Dundee’s new V&A Museum of Design on the city’s waterfront, the streets are home to the destitute, many of them drug addicts.

With 12 drug-related deaths last month alone, Dundee is the drug death capital of Europe, according to the National Records of Scotland. This compares with 38 deaths in the whole of 2016.

The number of drug-related deaths north of the Border is two and a half times higher than the whole of the UK and seven and a half times more than those reported for all EU countries.

Samantha Fearn fell victim to a life of drugs misuse and died from a combination of drugs in November, leaving her seven-year-old daughter Ellie to be brought up by her mother Liz Johnston.

Mrs Johnston, 62, wept as she described how her daughter’s addiction had a devastating effect on her granddaughter. She said: ‘Children of addicts are lost children. They will never be the same as other kids.

‘When Samantha died I had to explain to Ellie her mum died from drugs. It was the hardest thing to do.

‘What is happening here is horrific, it breaks my heart to think of people dying as a result of drugs. They want visitors to come to the city, but who wants to visit a city where problems with drugs are everywhere? The methadone programme just isn’t working.’

Dr Emma Fletcher, NHS Tayside consultant in public health, said: ‘Every drug death is a tragedy and every effort is being made to prevent such deaths.

‘We do everything possible to monitor risks and keep people safe through treatment and support. This includes a naloxone programme, encouraging those at risk to have naloxone in their homes so it can be administered in the event of an overdose.’