The number of people who died due to drug misuse in Scotland has increased.

Data from National Records of Scotland (NRS) showed there were a total of 1,172 deaths due to drug misuse in 2023 – a rise of 121 (12%) on the previous year.

This is the second-lowest number of drug misuse deaths since 2017, with 2022 seeing the lowest number (1,051).

The record high was in 2020, when 1,339 people died.

Key points:

• Drug misuse deaths are still much more common than they were in 2000. After adjusting for age, the rate of deaths were 4.2 times as high in 2023 than 2000.
• In 2023, males (805) were twice as likely to have a drug misuse death as females (367).
• Since 2000, the average age of drug misuse deaths has increased from 32 to 45.
• People in the most deprived areas of Scotland are more than 15 times as likely to die from drug misuse compared to people in the least deprived areas. The association of deprivation with drug misuse deaths is much greater than with other causes of death.
• After adjusting for age, Glasgow City and Dundee City had the highest rates of drug misuse deaths while East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire had the lowest.
• The most common type of drugs implicated in drug misuse deaths in 2023 were opiates/opioids which were implicated in 80% of all deaths.
• The majority (88%) of drug misuse deaths were classified as accidental poisonings, with only 7% ruled as intentional self-poisonings.

Last year, plans were approved for the UK’s first facility for the safer consumption of illegal drugs to help tackle the crisis.

The proposed pilot scheme will be based at Hunter Street Health Centre in Glasgow and will allow users to take their own drugs under the supervision of trained health professionals.

Safer drug consumption facilities (SDCFs) are backed by the Scottish government as a way to reduce the harms associated with drug use in public areas.

The SDCF is expected to open this year, but a date is yet to be confirmed.

Read more:
UK has one of the highest rates of drug deaths in Europe
The father who takes drugs in a ‘cage’

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