A record number of drug-related deaths were recorded last year in Scotland.
According to figures from the Scottish Bureau of Statistics (National Records Scotland), whose publication has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the country deplored 1,264 drug-related deaths in 2019.
These deaths represent an increase of 6% over the previous year.
With a population of 5.5 million, Scotland is often referred to as Europe's bad student when it comes to drugs.
The death rate is around 3.5 times higher in Scotland than for the whole of the UK, of which Scotland is a part along with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Scottish authorities have called the problem a public health emergency.
Despite this new record, however, the increase slowed down compared to 2018, when it was 27%.
Statistics published today show the number of drug-related deaths in Scotland increased by 6%, from 1,187 in 2018 to 1,264 in 2019, the highest number since records began in 1996. #NRSStats https://t.co/Ucud2DdA7L pic.twitter .com / WQ2M9DJkLL
- NatRecordsScot (@NatRecordsScot) December 15, 2020
Deeming each of these deaths to constitute "a tragedy", Scottish Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick acknowledged that they are the result of a "long-standing and complex series of challenges".
“There is no shortcut to solving this suddenly.
There are, however, steps we are taking now that will have a more immediate impact, ”he added.
The typical victim is a 35 to 54 year old male who uses multiple substances
These measures include an investment of more than 95 million pounds (around 104 million euros) this year in the fight against alcohol and drug addictions, as well as the distribution of naloxone, a drug used in the opioid overdose.
The Scottish heroin crisis burst onto the international scene in 1996 with Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" set in Edinburgh.
More than twenty years later, overdose deaths hit the “Trainspotting generation” hard, which began to use heroin in the 1980s and 1990s.
According to the latest figures available from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Scotland has the highest rate of drug-related deaths per capita in Europe, followed by Sweden.
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Of the deaths recorded in 2019, 69% were men and 68% occurred among 35-54 year olds, mainly in Glasgow, the most populous city in Scotland, and its region (404 deaths).
In 94% of cases, death was caused by more than one substance (heroin, morphine, methadone, benzodiazepine, opioid, etc.).