Drug Addiction Isn't A Lifestyle Choice.. It's Down To Poverty

MORE than 1300 people died drug-related deaths in 2020 – 1339, to be exact, an increase of 75 on the previous year and the seventh consecutive year the figure has risen.

- Darren McGarvey

The overwhelming majority of deaths were deemed to be accidental, with only four per cent succumbing due to deliberate self-poisoning.

What this tells us is that these people did not want to die, but they were suffering from a condition of body and mind which compelled them to risk their lives on a daily basis.

The number of deaths involving methadone are at their highest ever. Benzos like diazepam and etizolam are again implicated.

Two-thirds of deaths in 2020 were of people aged between 34 and 54 and cocaine plays an increasing role in this developing picture, with more than 400 deaths now linked to the substance.

The drug crisis is evolving. And so too must our response.

But it is the following statistic and little else which should dictate the direction of travel for the Scottish Government – people from deprived communities are 18 times more likely to perish in drug-related deaths.

That is an astounding indictment of every level of governance in this country.