Scottish drug death stats show need for specialist support

The Salvation Army is calling for an increase in specialist support to address substance use as statistics from the National Records of Scotland show drugs were a factor in 1172 deaths in Scotland last year.

The number of drug related deaths in 2023 increased by 121 compared to the previous year representing a 12% increase. Scotland continues to have the highest number of drug-related deaths in both the UK and Europe.

The Salvation Army recently published a report titled Breaking The Cycle, highlighting the barriers facing people trying to access support for their substance use in Scotland. Two key issues highlighted are lack of support for substance use available at weekends or evenings along with problems getting help when people are dealing with both addiction and mental health issues. More than 80% of drug support services in Scotland are unavailable over the weekend, closing on a Friday afternoon and not reopening until Monday morning.  

Lee Ball, Director of Addiction at The Salvation Army, said: “Behind these tragic figures are avoidable deaths. We need more investment in a wide range of specialist support services but it's also important to break down the stigma of substance use for the individual, the family and the community. As a specialist provider of homelessness services, we see how substance use is often a way for people to escape unbearable pain and trauma - a last resort. Our Naloxone programme has allowed us to issue 105 Naloxone kits and we have now used it in 98% of unresponsive overdoses across our services in Scotland, 31 fatalities were prevented.

“Today’s statistics underline the scale of the challenge we still face in Scotland. Better access to support for substance use outside normal working hours is essential and will save lives. We must also ensure that no one is denied support due to mental health issues and vice-versa.”

In May, the Right to Recovery Bill was launched at the Scottish Parliament and is due to proceed to committee later this year. The Salvation Army welcomes provision of a Member’s Bill seeking to save lives by ensuring people who use substances have access to all appropriate support options including the provision of harm reduction services.  

The full ‘Breaking the Cycle’ report is available on The Salvation Army’s website https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/homelessness-policy/breaking-cycle | For updates and regular information on The Salvation Army in Scotland follow @TSA_Scotland on X.