Scotland has ‘ageing population’ of long-term drug addicts

SCOTLAND has an emerging generation of “hard to reach” drug addicts who have been using for more than a decade, it was confirmed today.

More than 45,000 users have sought treatment in the past four years, including 10,813 in the last year alone.

Community minister Roseanna Cunningham said the health service statistics showed Scotland has an “ageing population” of people with drug problems.

She said: “We are seeing a cohort of hard-to-reach individuals who have been using drugs for more than a decade.

“They are getting older and their risk of drug-related death is greater.

“But they are not lost to us. We have reformed Scotland’s approach to tackling drug misuse – we now focus on the individual, not solely their addiction.”