Dundee has the highest rate of women with drug problems in Scotland, new figures have revealed.
Official statistics from the NHS’s Information Services Division (ISD) show the city tops the league of shame while it also has the second highest overall rate of people battling addiction. Only Inverclyde scores worse in that regard.
Around 1,200 women were identified as having a “problem drug use” in Dundee, or 2.25% of the city’s population, which is more than double the national average of 0.96%.
For men, the 1,700 is equivalent to 3.38% of the population, compared to a Scotland-wide 2.43%.
Dundee-based North East Scotland MSP Jenny Marra said: “It is a human tragedy for families in our city that Dundee has the highest proportion of women with a drug addiction.
“I asked the Scottish Government two years ago to increase the number of rehabilitation beds in Dundee. It is not good enough that people are being parked on methadone for years with no chance of recovery.”
Drugs seriously impact on 2.8% of people in the city, according to ISD Scotland, compared to 1.68% across the country as a whole. The overall rate for Angus is 0.96%, Fife 1.23% and Perth and Kinross 1.2%.
Dundee City East MSP Shona Robison praised the work of local services who treat addicts and try to tackle the deep-rooted problems associated with drug misuse.
She said: “It is very disappointing that problem drug use in Dundee is still relatively high and that proportionately more women are involved in drug misuse in the city than in others areas.
“Locally, Addaction, Tayside Substance Misuse and the Drug and Alcohol Team are key partners who work with the NHS to tackle drug addiction in our area.
“They use a variety of innovative programmes aimed at addressing the inter-generational transmission of substance misuse in families.”
It came as another report revealed four times as many people have died from drug abuse in the city than the Scottish average. Public Health Information for Scotland’s figures showed an average of one in every 30 Dundonians takes drugs.
More Dundee teenagers take drugs than in the rest of Scotland and more children need assistance because their parents take drugs, according to the research.