Drug related deaths at new high in latest year
The highest ever number of drug related deaths in Scotland was recorded in 2014, according to official figures released today.
In total, 613 drug-related deaths were registered, 86 more (16%) than in 2013, and 257 up (72%) on the 2004 figure. About 6% of the rise is due to changes in the classification of drugs.
Ministers have pointed out that the deaths predominantly come from an aging group of users with a history of drug use. The average age of people in Scotland dying of drug-related causes was 40 in 2014 – up from 28 in 1996 when recording began. Two thirds of deaths (67%) were amongst those aged 35 or over, with just 8% amongst the under 25s, where the number of dearths actually fell. Males accounted for 74% of the deaths, but the percentage increase for females, comparing the 2010-14 period with 2000-04, is nearly three times greater, at 141% as compared with 50%.
The bulletin also gives figures for the drugs involved in fatalities.
Paul Wheelhouse, Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, commented: “The figures published today highlight that while there has been some progress in tackling problem drug use, Scotland still faces a huge challenge in tackling the damaging effects of long-term drug use among an aging cohort of individuals in Scotland. This group of individuals often have long-term, chronic health problems as a result of sustained and, in many cases, increasingly chaotic drug-use issues. Pinpointing a cause of death is never easy, but is typically complex. We are undertaking work to better understand the needs of particular sub-groups and to better understand what role the purity, or strength, of illicit drugs is playing in increasing fatalities.
“Scotland has for some years faced the difficult task of rehabilitating a generation of individuals with a history of problem drug use. That is why earlier this year the Scottish Drugs Forum set up a group that specifically works with older drug users. Through Scottish Government support and funding, the group will identify and understand the current needs of this vulnerable cohort of drug users and will seek to predict their future medical and support needs in order to curb the worrying upward trend in fatalities."
He added: “We also remain committed to doing all that we can to tackle the issue of new psychoactive substances, or what are misleadingly called 'legal highs'. These substances are not legal if sold for human consumption and their use can, and does, have fatal consequences. In 2014 the number of deaths involving an NPS were largely unchanged from the previous year, but any death of this nature is one too many."