Rising inequality in Thatcher’s Britain has been blamed by academics for the increase in drugs deaths in Scotland.
Researchers from NHS Health Scotland and Glasgow University found a link between the political and economic picture in the 1980s and the continued rise in the fatalities north of the border.
Dundee was reaffirmed the drugs death capital of Scotland when 36 were recorded in 2015. Many of those have been attributed to ageing users who became addicted to hard drugs in the 1980s.
The latest analysis found that a cohort of poorer males within Generation X – those born in the 1960s and 1970s – were at increased risk of drugs deaths because of the “changing social, economic and political contexts of the 1980s”.
They were exposed to high unemployment, rising inequality and less state support, the researchers found, with those from deprived areas more likely to be affected.
The report said drugs-related deaths increased during the 1990s in Scotland because of the increased risk to those born between 1960 and 1980.
“This cohort effect is consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to the changing social, economic and political contexts of the 1980s created a delayed negative health impact,” it added.
Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader, said the report reveals the “devastating legacy left behind by Margaret Thatcher’s callous policies”. She added: “For many drugs became a form of escape. A generation on, hundreds of people have already died from drug use, and many remain at risk.”
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said Ms Dugdale is talking “nonsense”, adding Labour’s “record in office on tackling drug addiction is the worst in any developed country”.
“For the last 30 years we have seen a drugs policy which parks many addicts on Methadone programmes,” he added.
“Scottish Conservatives have been the only party calling for change to try to get people out of drugs and a life of addiction.”
Dr Andrew Fraser, of NHS Health Scotland, said the full impact of the drugs epidemic among Generation X is unlikely to be known for some time.
“As the cohort of people at greatest risk of drug-related deaths continues to age, drugs services will need to adapt,” he added.
