The Courier Investigates: More drug addicts than ever prescribed methadone

More addicts than ever are being prescribed the heroin replacement methadone, with the number in Courier Country rocketing.

Over the next three days we speak to addictions experts, former drug squad officers and methadone users themselves to reveal the true picture of the drug’s use across Courier Country.

We reveal the number of methadone users in Tayside, Fife and Forth Valley and why more must be done to support users trying to get clean.

We go behind the scenes at one of Scotland’s busiest methadone dispensing chemists and meet the Christian outreach group trying to help addicts kick their habits.

And we examine the shocking number of discarded needles on Courier Country streets and hear one expert’s call for heroin “shooting galleries” in a bid to stamp out the problem.

For more on this story see Tuesday’s Courier or try our digital edition.