Scotland has ‘deep problem’ with drugs, Swinney concedes as deaths rise 12%

Scotland has a “deep problem” with drugs and the Government will “consider attentively” action to address an increase in deaths, First Minister John Swinney has said.

He was speaking the day after national statistics revealed a 12% rise in drug deaths during 2023, claiming a total of 1,172 lives.

It means Scotland’s rate of recorded drug deaths remain higher than other parts of the UK and European nations.

Mr Swinney’s comments come as the opening date was announced for the UK’s first facility allowing the safe consumption of illegal drugs.

Glasgow City Council said it expects the facility on Hunter Street to open on October 21.

The Lord Advocate said last year it would not be in the “public interest” to prosecute people in a safe drugs consumption room with possession of illegal substances.

The centre already provides a heroin assisted treatment service.

On Wednesday, Mr Swinney visited the Edinburgh Cancer Centre at the Western General Hospital.

Speaking to journalists, he said his Government is working to “strengthen our response to the drug deaths crisis”.

He said: “The level of drug deaths is wholly unacceptable and I’m very sorry for the heartache it has caused to families who lose loved ones.”

Mr Swinney highlighted investment in rehabilitation services and the rollout of naloxone kits.

He added: “There’s a huge amount of work going on to do that, but we do have a deep problem in Scotland with drugs deaths and I would reassure members of the public that tackling that issue is fundamentally at the heart of the Government’s agenda and we will sustain the measures that we’re taking forward to deliver better outcomes.”

As well as expanding rehab capacity, he said the safe consumption facility would be available in the “near future”.

The First Minister continued: “These are all measures that are designed to tackle the issue, but we must be constantly attentive to whether there’s more we can do to tackle what is an unacceptable scourge on our society.”

Discussing the safe consumption facility in Glasgow, councillor Allan Casey said: “The rise in drug-related deaths last year makes clear we are in a public health emergency and one that requires radical action.

“Glasgow has well-established alcohol and drug recovery services that work effectively with the city’s high number of problem drug users, however people with problematic alcohol and drug use experience significant challenges which puts their health and well-being at considerable risk.

“The opening of the safer drug consumption facility will help reduce fatal and non-fatal overdoses by providing users with a safe, clean place to inject their own drugs in the presence of trained medical staff.

“The urgent need for such a facility couldn’t be more important and we are only a matter of weeks away, with an estimated opening date of October 21.”

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross called on the First Minister to support his proposed Right to Recovery Bill.

He said: “John Swinney must accept that the SNP Government’s approach to tackling Scotland’s record drug deaths rate is simply not working.

“While we continue to hear warm words from the First Minister, more people died as a result of drugs last year in Scotland than the previous year.

“Our most vulnerable communities and individuals are being harmed by the inaction from the SNP and their refusal to do things differently.”