Huge rise in pregnant drug addicts as methadone bill soars to £28m

SCOTLAND’S crippling relationship with drugs has been laid bare in new figures which reveal a record £28 million a year is being spent on methadone programmes.

There has also been a surge in the number of women using drugs while pregnant, up by more than 50 per cent to 925 in 2009-10, according to the latest Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland report.

Drug use is falling among under-30s, but rising among those who are older.

Experts say this is the result of the “Trainspotting generation”, who started taking heroin in the 1980s, hitting middle age.

They warn the current financial climate could push a new generation of young people towards drugs.

David Liddell, director of the Scottish Drugs Forum, said: “The evidence is that drug use among young people does go up during a recession. What we are seeing, to some extent, is alcohol, minor tranquillisers, and benzos [benzodiazepine] among the younger population.”

Overall 10,813 people sought help for drug problems in 2010-11, down from 11,819 in the year before.

Almost two-thirds said they had been using heroin, although this too was down 5 per cent compared to 2009-10.

Methadone prescriptions are up from 488,504 in 2006-07 to 533,733 last year, while supervision fees have also risen sharply from £7.9m to £13.7m.

That has seen the amount spent on methadone rise from £20.6m to £28m last year.

Mr Liddell defended the rise. “What we do have in methadone is something that’s proven in making a difference in people’s lives,” he said. “That impact, in terms of reducing crime for example, is also a benefit to wider society.”

The Scottish Government believes the rise in methadone costs and pregnant women using drugs is at least partly due to increased reporting by health boards.

In 2009-10, 930 children were born to drug-using mothers. Almost a quarter were underweight, and 15 per cent were pre-term.

MSPs said more needs to be done to provide support and advice to such women.

Lewis Macdonald, Labour’s justice spokesman, said: “We must remember that behind each one of these statistics is the sad story of a child coming into the world whose life chances have been curtailed before birth.”

Scottish Tory health spokesman, Jackson Carlaw, added: “This is not only dangerous for the mother but the child as well and it is important that we alert women to the dangers.”

The figures also revealed typical drug users spent £33 a day on their habit, but this rose to £114 for cocaine users

Seventy per cent said they used benefits money to pay for drugs, 22 per cent said crime, while 15 per cent admitted running up debt. More than two thirds were unemployed, although this was down from 73 per cent the previous year.

Eight per cent of people seeking help with drugs were on methadone.

“These figures clearly demonstrate that, despite the problems we have had with methadone use in the past, they continue to build,” Mr Carlaw said.

Alison McInnes, Scottish Liberal Democrats justice spokeswoman, added: “This survey shows that it is getting more difficult to reach long term drug users.”