ALMOST 600 people are suspected to have died from drugs in the first six months of this year in Scotland, new figures show.
Statistics compiled by Police Scotland and released by the Scottish Government on Tuesday show 589 suspected drug deaths have been logged.
The figures are based on provisional data from the force and represent a 2% drop from the same period last year.
However, the figure in the 12 months up to June of this year was 5% higher than that from the previous year.
Of the recorded deaths, 74% were men, while 63% were aged between 35 and 54.
READ MORE: Scotland: Alcohol deaths reach 15-year high
Greater Glasgow police division recorded the highest number of suspected deaths with 133, followed by Lanarkshire with 60 and Edinburgh City with 56.
In the three months between April and June of this year, the number of suspected drug deaths dropped by 16%, but the report published on Tuesday stressed that the figure “fluctuates from quarter to quarter”.
Health Secretary Neil Gray sent his “heartfelt condolences” to those who have lost a loved one through drugs, adding: “We will continue to do all we can to reduce harm and deaths.
“Through our National Mission on drugs we are taking a wide range of evidence-based measures to reduce harm and save lives.
“These include widening access to treatment and support through the implementation of our medication assisted treatment standards, increasing the availability of residential rehabilitation, supporting the opening of a safer drug consumption facility pilot, widening access to Naloxone and delivering drug-checking facilities.
“We have made a record £112 million available to ADPs (alcohol and drug partnerships) in 2024-25 for treatment and support services and national mission funds have now backed more than 300 grassroots organisations and projects, helping to support more than 33,000 people.”
But Scottish LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the figures were “nothing short of a national tragedy”.
“Scotland’s drug deaths crisis is worse than anywhere else in Europe,” he said.
“Despite deaths more than doubling over the last decade, the SNP government has chosen to freeze the funding for drug and alcohol policy, amounting to a real-terms cut to the budget for critical services.
“When this issue comes before parliament later this week, I want to see ministers committing to fresh measures to stop people dying."
Scottish Tory MSP Sue Webber described the figure as “appallingly high,” adding: “We know that drug deaths increased last year, and the SNP are continuing to take their eye off the ball on tackling this national emergency."
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