Scotland drug deaths rise 11% to 1,133, still highest rate in Europe
Official figures show 1,133 people died from drug misuse in Scotland last year, up 11% and still the highest rate in Europe, with cocaine and synthetic opioids driving the crisis.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Scotland has recorded 1,133 drug deaths in the last calendar year, an 11% rise on the previous year and the highest rate in Europe, according to official figures. The total is 116 more deaths than the year before and marks the seventh consecutive year above 1,000. It remains below the peak of more than 1,300 deaths in 2020. Nearly 15,000 people have died from drug abuse in Scotland since 2010.
The figures show the crisis is concentrated in deprived communities. The drug death rate in Scotland's most deprived areas is 15 times higher than in the least deprived. Men accounted for a rising share of deaths, up 19%, while deaths among women fell. The average age of people who died was 46, compared with 32 in 2000, reflecting an ageing cohort of long-term users. Scotland's death rate is about two and a half times that of England.
Heroin and other opioids remain the biggest factor, implicated in 78% of deaths. Cocaine was involved in more than half of deaths, 52%, the highest level recorded. Synthetic opioids are a growing threat. Nitazines, spelled as nitosines in some reports, were involved in 22% of deaths, a trebling on the previous year. They are lab-made, mixed into other drugs, and can be 100 to 500 times stronger than heroin. Experts warn the drug supply is increasingly toxic and unpredictable.
The Scottish government's drugs minister said the situation was devastating and denied nothing. She said Scotland was taking every step within its power, but accepted missteps and apologised for them, pointing to cuts to treatment and recovery services in 2015. She said the greater challenge was an increasingly toxic market and called for more work with the UK government. Opposition parties said the Scottish government's approach had failed badly. The Scottish Drugs Forum said a public health emergency needed an emergency response, with better scale and pace.
Five years after the Scottish government declared a drugs death emergency, more than 1,000 people are still dying each year. Funding has gone to residential rehabilitation, a safe injection room, and a drug checking service due to open in Glasgow next month after delays. But people in recovery said help remains hard to access, with funding barriers and empty beds at some facilities. Some described being sent menus by dealers and overdosing on drugs laced with nitazines. One man, Andy, 47, who first tried cannabis at 11, is now in rehab. Michelle survived an overdose and was told she was a goner. Campaigners say the deaths are preventable and that every figure represents a son, daughter, father or mother.
The crisis has deep roots. The decline of mines, mills and shipyards left communities without work, and drug use followed. Debates continue over whether Westminster should abandon prohibition and whether Scottish government cuts a decade ago made things worse. The latest figures show no simple solution: more money and more rehab beds have not yet reversed the trend.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC One | Channel 4 | ITV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland recorded more than 1,000 drug deaths last year, an 11% rise and the highest rate in Europe. | ||||
| Scotland had the highest drug death rate in Europe. | · | |||
| A group of potent synthetic opioids was implicated in more than one in five drug deaths in Scotland. | · | · | ||
| Cocaine was involved in more than half of drug deaths in Scotland. | · | · | ||
| The drug death rate in Scotland's most deprived areas was 15 times higher than in the least deprived areas. | · | · | ||
| Deaths involving nitazenes trebled from the previous year. | · | · | · | |
| Drug checking services for synthetic opioids were due to open soon but were delayed, with more people dying each week they were delayed. | · | · | · | |
| Experts warned that the drug supply has become increasingly toxic and unpredictable. | · | · | · | |
| Glasgow had the highest rate of drug deaths in Scotland. | · | · | · | |
| Heroin and other opioids were involved in 78% of drug deaths, cocaine in 52%, and nitazines in 22%. | · | · | · | |
| Heroin and other opioids were involved in 78% of Scotland's drug deaths. | · | · | · | |
| Male drug deaths in Scotland rose 19%. | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
5 covered the story in short lunchtime and evening bulletins, leading on the human cost and the political fallout. Its evening report challenged the drugs minister on whether the figures were embarrassing, and highlighted rising male deaths and the role of cocaine and nitazines. It also stressed that the deaths were preventable.
- “Drug deaths are on the up in Scotland with more than 1,000 lives lost last year. There's been a rise of 11% giving Scotland the highest drug's death rate in Europe.”
- “Devastating is the word I would use, not embarrassing.”
- “I think the thing to remember is all these deaths are preventable.”
BBC ONE West gave the most detailed political and social context. It reported the official figures, then pressed the drugs minister on historic cuts and responsibility, and explored poverty, industrial decline and empty rehab beds. Its reporter also noted that the total was lower than the 2020 peak but still part of a long crisis.
- “The total number for the last calendar year rose to 1,133. Now that's an increase of 116 deaths, 11 per cent up on the previous year.”
- “The drug death rate is 15 times higher in the poorest corners of Scotland than the richest.”
- “I am sorry that we have made missteps along the way that have led us to the situation that we are in today.”
ITV1 led with the grim annual figures and the failure of policy, using recovery stories to show how hard it still is to get help. It challenged the minister on five years of emergency declarations and delayed drug checking, and gave prominence to nitazines as a powerful synthetic threat. Its coverage was more confrontational than the BBC's.
- “Scotland was already the drugs death capital of Europe. Now the situation is getting worse.”
- “I was going to die, and people do die waiting on the funding. That's a fact.”
- “It's five years since the Scottish government declared a drugs death emergency, yet new policies fall short of the scale of this crisis. Over 1,000 deaths each year. This is a failure.”
Channel 4 focused on the scale and composition of the death toll, breaking down the roles of heroin, cocaine and nitazines, and adding demographic and deprivation context. It framed the crisis as a continuing political problem for the Scottish government, while noting the drop from the 2020 peak.
- “Today's figures show 1,133 people died from using drugs in Scotland last year. That's up 11% on the year before, although down from the peak in 2020.”
- “Still, it's three drug deaths every day, each one a personal tragedy.”
- “The average age of people who died last year was 46, compared to 32 in the year 2000.”
Who was on air
People and organisations each channel put on air while covering this story. Channels' own presenters and reporters are not listed. Names as transcribed, and the list can miss people.
- 19:25 BST
“I am not denying the challenging situation that we face”
Channel 4 News · Wed 23 Sept
- 13:37 BST
Broadcast Timeline
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