Drug deaths rise to one every four days within the Lothians

Published on Thursday 13 August 2009 09:45

DRUG deaths in the Lothians have soared dramatically in the last year, with an average of one life lost every four days.

New figures show fatalities blamed on substance misuse rocketed to 94 last year – double the figure of two years ago and the highest in the last decade.

Experts have said an increase in mixing drugs, especially with alcohol, has led to a more dangerous taking of drugs, while the increasing availability of black market methadone is also having an impact.

In fact, more people are now dying after taking methadone than heroin, the treatment which was supposed to ease the problem.

Both NHS Lothian and the Scottish Government said they were alarmed at the rise and were working hard to turn the situation around, although no-one was able to put forward an explanation for the huge increase in deaths in the past 12 months.

Angus Bancroft, a senior lecturer in social and political science at Edinburgh University, said: "Figures I've looked at show the average age of a drug-related death to be in the 30s, which has changed, and suggests more experienced drug users who you might expect to know what they can handle are trying different things."

Drug deaths in the Lothians now make up 16 per cent of the Scottish total, although the scale of the problem is worse in Glasgow and other west coast regions.

Heroin, methadone and types of valium account for the most deaths, while cocaine and amphetamines also feature.

Lothians Conservative MSP Gavin Brown said: "It is clear that a lot more work is required to deal with the problem."

Drug agencies were also at a loss to explain the huge rise.

"Drugs are changing, the way they are being dealt are changing, what's in them is changing," said Glenn Liddall, managing co-ordinator of Simpson House. There could be 100 reasons for this, every single case is so complex."

Jackie Sansbury, director of strategic planning and modernisation for NHS Lothian said the deaths were "clearly a concern".

"We're making a number of changes to both speed up access to drugs treatment for people who want to quit and provide increased information for drug users."