Inpatient drugs toll hits 230

MORE than 200 psychiatric inpatients in the Lothians were diagnosed with drug misuse in a single year, new figures have shown.

A study by ISD Scotland found that 230 psychiatric inpatients were discharged who were found to have abused drugs including heroin and cocaine.

The most recent figures, for 2008/9, showed that 68 of these inpatients had abused "opiates" such as heroin, while a further 20 were found to have abused cannabis.

Another 15 indicated that they abused "sedatives and hypnotics" while 15 patients misused "other stimulants".

The Lothian inpatients were among a total of 1497 in Scotland during the period showing signs of drug problems.

Lothian had the second-highest total in the country after Greater Glasgow and Clyde.