SNP’S drugs death shame

Party under fire as shock figures reveal 4 addicts die every DAY

SCOTLAND’S ‘shameful’ drug death toll was laid bare yesterday as shocking new figures revealed nearly four addicts die every day.

The record number of deaths – 1,339 last year – rose 5 per cent in a year. It is now three-and-a-half times greater than the rest of the UK and still the worst of any country in Europe.

Since the SNP came to power in 2007, there have been 10,679 drug-related deaths, despite the party’s repeated promises to tackle the crisis.

But last night Nicola Sturgeon said the stark figures for 2020 ‘pre-date’ her government’s latest plan to curb deaths.

It comes after she admitted in April that her government ‘took its eye off the ball’ on the drug deaths scandal.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said the figures were a ‘stain on Scotland’ and

‘Pitiful excuses are a disgrace’

‘our national shame’ as he proposed tough new legislation.

He said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon ought to be ashamed of inserting political spin into these awful figures.

‘Pitiful excuses about these statistics “pre-dating government actions” are a disgrace.

‘The SNP has been in power for 14 years – drug deaths are Scotland’s shame because of their inaction.’

The National Records of Scotland figures showed 1,339 drug deaths, or nearly four per day, in 2020, up by 5 per cent in a year from 1,264.

The country continues to have the worst drug death rate in Europe, with 21.2 deaths per 100,000 of the population – more than three-and-a-half times higher than the rest of the UK.

When the SNP came to power, it vowed to reduce the role of the heroin substitute methadone in drug rehabilitation.

But the figures show methadone is implicated in, or potentially contributed to, the cause of death in a record 53 per cent of all drug deaths – rising from 567 to 708 in the last year.

Cocaine deaths increased from 372 to 459, a rise of more than 23 per cent. Deaths involving ecstasy-type drugs soared by 60 per cent, from 25 to 40.

Opioids – a class of drug which includes heroin – remained the number one cause of drugrelated death.

Of the 1,339 deaths, 1,192 were related in some way to opioids.

In a sign that more drug users are mixing substances, benzodiazepines – use of which has soared in recent years due to easy availability – were implicated in 974 deaths in 2020.

Some 93 per cent of the deaths were a result of accidental overdoses; 4 per cent were considered deliberate self-poisoning.

Men were 2.7 times more likely to die from drugs than women, with 973 deaths compared to 366 female victims. Deprivation also continued to be a major factor. In 2020, the death rate from drugs in the most deprived areas was 68.2 per 100,000 of the population – compared with just 3.7 per 100,000 in the most affluent areas.

Glasgow was again found to be the worst area for people struggling with addiction, with 291 dying last year in the city. Miss Sturgeon said the number of lives lost ‘is unacceptable, each one a human tragedy’, adding: ‘These 2020 figures (though no less shameful because of it) pre-date actions set out at start of year.’

Labour peer Lord Foulkes said: ‘Drug law is the same throughout the UK; this does not explain why drug deaths in Scotland are more than three times the rest of the UK’.

Dr Rebecca Lawrence, chairman of the addictions faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said it was ‘shameful that Scotland still continues to be known as the drug-death capital of Europe’.

THE sheer scale of Scotland’s drug deaths tragedy is almost beyond comprehension.

More than 1,300 people died last year alone, averaging nearly four deaths a day.

That’s a 5 per cent increase on 2019 – while more than 10,000 have died since 2007.

Year after year, we have heard the same platitudes and empty promises from ministers.

But the country retains its unenviable title as the drug-deaths capital of Europe.

It is a record of sustained failure by a government that has succeeded only in making the problem many times worse.

In April, Nicola Sturgeon admitted she and her colleagues ‘took our eye off the ball’ as the number of drug casualties rose.

Yet, as Neil McKeganey argues powerfully in today’s Mail, the First Minister appears not to have seen the stadium, ‘let alone the ball’. And he concludes that she ‘certainly chose to look the other way as the bodies increased’.

We have grown accustomed to Miss Sturgeon’s regular briefings on coronavirus. But yesterday she had little to say about the rapid increase in drug deaths.

Miss Sturgeon tweeted that the figures ‘pre-date’ her government’s latest plan to drive down fatalities. That is a spectacular abdication of responsibility – and an insult to the relatives of the many thousands who have died on the SNP’s watch.

A succession of ministers have been tasked with finding ways to address this public health emergency – and all have failed.

The SNP remains wedded to the use of heroin substitute methadone – now a factor in 53 per cent of drug-related deaths. It refuses to countenance cold turkey treatments and instead pours millions into a discredited scheme that is costing lives.

Unforgivably, it has sought to exploit drug deaths for its own narrow agenda, to foment division with the UK Government.

SNP ministers claim their hands are tied and they have been prevented from setting up ‘safer consumption’ facilities, where addicts can inject under supervision.

Some of the worst addicts are being given free pharmaceutical-grade heroin by the NHS at a specialist clinic in Glasgow.

Yet, as Labour peer Lord Foulkes highlighted yesterday, Scotland’s drug problem is by far the worst in the UK – and yet the law on drugs is the same on either side of the Border.

Constitutional conflict is easier than coming up with viable solutions, but achieves nothing, while more and more addicts perish in the streets.

At the root of the crisis is the SNP’s obsession with soft-touch justice which does nothing to deter dealers – or users.

Fines are handed out for possession of ‘personal’ amounts of cannabis, a gateway drug for heroin addiction.

In town and city centres, addicts can be seen openly using drugs – apparently without fear of police intervention.

Officers are now focusing on a public health approach, with some carrying medical kits to help reverse overdoses.

While this is doubtless well-intentioned, it’s no surprise that many rank-and-file officers are deeply uneasy.

The leader of the Scottish Police Federation has pointed out that going soft on dealers may have fuelled the huge increase in drug deaths.

That is a damning indictment of a government that has allowed this problem to spiral out of control.

It has ploughed on with failed policies despite the repeated warnings of experts like Dr McKeganey who advised that they wouldn’t work.

In fact, they have made matters worse – and yet no one is prepared to take any responsibility.

Our message to the First Minister is clear: drop the soundbites and focus on tackling this national calamity – before more lives are needlessly lost.