The SNP Government have been warned that it would be “shameful” to try to spin Thursday’s drug-deaths figures as a success if they continue to show Scotland has the worst fatality rate in Europe.
Tomorrow, the National Records of Scotland will publish the official number of drug-related deaths recorded in Scotland in 2021.
A year ago, they showed that 1,339 people died from substance misuse in 2020 – a new record, and the continuation of an inexorable rise in fatalities since Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister.
It meant that Scotland’s drug-deaths rate was 4.9 times higher than that of England and Wales. It is also more than four times higher than the next worst European nations – Sweden and Norway.
The Scottish Conservatives say those stark comparisons illustrate that Scotland is such an extreme outlier for drug-related fatalities that only a major reduction in numbers for 2021 will be a sign of meaningful progress.
Shadow Health Secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane believes the SNP Government lack a coherent strategy for tackling “a national tragedy” and has urged them to finally back his party’s landmark Right to Recovery Bill.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Health Secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP, said: “Scotland’s drugs-death epidemic is a national tragedy which ought to shame the SNP government.
“The number of fatalities has risen year on year on Nicola Sturgeon’s watch to last year’s appalling record high of 1,339.
“These figures mean Scotland has not just the worst death rate per head of population in Europe – but the worst by such an enormous margin that it’s hard to get your head around.
“We desperately need to see a substantial reduction in the number of fatalities when the 2021 figures are announced tomorrow.
“The SNP cannot claim success when we’re still losing 1,000 people every single year. It would be shameful if they tried to spin Scotland still having the worst drug-death rate in Europe as some kind of victory.
“The Scottish Conservatives’ Right to Recovery Bill can be a game-changer because it will enshrine in law the right of everyone with addiction problems to receive the potentially life-saving treatment they need.
“The SNP have said they will give it a fair hearing in parliament – but that’s not good enough. They need to get off the fence and back the bill so that we can start tackling this national emergency now.
“Nicola Sturgeon admitted, shamefully, that she took her eye off the ball on drugs deaths. It’s essential she finally focuses on it.”
Notes
Last year’s NRS report on drug-related deaths can be found here: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files/statistics/drug-related-deaths/20/drug-related-deaths-20-pub.pdf
The Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce’s final report, published earlier this month, can be found here: https://drugdeathstaskforce.scot/media/1313/changing-lives-taskforce-final-report.pdf