Scottish government declares emergency after 27% increase in drug related deaths

There were almost 1,200 drugs-related deaths in Scotland last year – the highest level since current records began, Sky News reports. 

Official statistics released on Tuesday reveal the drugs death rate in Scotland is higher than that reported for any other EU country.

In what the Scottish Government described as an “emergency”, there were 1,187 drugs-related deaths in the country in 2018, an increase of 27% from the year before.

This is the highest level since current records began in 1996, when 244 drugs-related deaths were recorded, and more than double the 2008 figure of 574, the National Records of Scotland figures revealed.

The statistics also suggest Scotland’s drugs death rate, per head of population, is almost three times that of the UK as a whole.

Via Sky News