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Warning drug deaths could get even worse as cost of living crisis bites

Scotland’s national drug deaths emergency could spiral even further out of control as the cost of living crisis hits the most vulnerable, it has been warned.

Charity bosses and local politicians – including the SNP’s Pete Wishart – predicted soaring bills and rising rates of poverty could create the perfect conditions for more fatalities.

The stark warning comes as the latest figures showed 1,330 people lost their lives to drug-related causes last year.

The number of deaths was down by nine in 2021 compared to the year before, making it the second highest total on record.

While the findings represent a small improvement on previous reports, campaigners insisted it is far from acceptable following years of promises.

Annemarie Ward, from the charity Favor UK, described the decline as a “tiny anomaly” and blamed the first minister for failing to properly address the situation.

She said: “It’s still the second highest total ever. It’s still the worst death rate in Europe.

“That comes back to Nicola Sturgeon’s door. She’s responsible for that.

“Nobody else. Her.”

‘We’re going to see more deaths’

Warning that the cost of living crisis will “of course” make things worse, Ms Ward said: “Our poorest communities are getting poorer.

“Of course we’re going to see more deaths. The more politicians get away with using this as a political football, the more deaths we’re going to see.”

Perth MP Pete Wishart agreed that soaring bills will only add to the emergency.

Pete Wishart, MP for Perth and North Perthshire.

He said: “We know that poverty is a huge driver of problem drug use.

“We see that in our everyday experience in all the areas that have significant difficulties. It presents itself as a real threat.

“We’ve got to be very careful about some of the signs we’re looking at just now.

“Anything that puts people in such despair, that’s a massive driver to problem drug use.

“We’ve got to watch out for some of the signs and make sure we’re on top of that.”

Mr Wishart, who chairs the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster, said that things can be done under the powers already held by the Scottish Parliament.

But he warned MSPs can only “tinker at the edges” while the UK Government refuses to look at decriminalisation or drug consumption room.

The latest data showed Dundee – which has long been at the epicentre of the tragedy – had the worst death rate in the country between 2017 and 2021.

An additional 52 residents in the city died from drug use, down from a total of 57 in 2020.

Elsewhere, worrying figures from Fife showed there had been 70 lives lost in the area, an increase of five from the year before.

‘No real reform’

Dundee Labour MSP Michael Marra said: “There has been no real reform of services that are central to keeping drug users alive and to setting them on the path to recovery.

“The pace of change is glacial and the failure to act is being measured out in lost lives and broken families.”

Michael Marra MSP.

North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie said:  “When drugs deaths are still on the rise in Fife and elsewhere, it is impossible for the first minister to claim that progress is being made.

“Rather than more talk, it is time for action.

“We need specialist drug and alcohol commissions similar to what happens in Portugal, to end the destructive use of imprisonment for people misusing drugs, and to make safe consumption spaces available across the country.”

SNP drug policy minister Angela Constance said: “These latest statistics provide yet more heart-breaking reading, and the situation remains unacceptable.

“While there is so much more work to do, every life saved means one less family grieving and I am determined we can use this halt in the upward trend of recent years as a platform for real change.”