Scotland's Drug Related Deaths 2025
Today marks another bleak day in the landscape of Scotland's drugs crisis. The release of NRS report on 2025 drug related deaths shows that a further 1,133 people lost their lives, taking us to 18,820 lost souls since the turn of the century. We think of the people, their families, their friends, their colleagues, their classmates, their neighbours. All of those people will have touched the lives of others, and did not deserve to lose their own lives in this way. The report shows that, once again, the nation has failed to reduce the number of people lost. Some areas have seen close to their worst losses.
While the increased testing of nitazenes is bound to show an increase in causation, it can't be understated how much of an impact they are having. The drugs market continues to change and the country is still not managing to react promptly and effectively to those changes.
The gap that was looking to lessen between those living in the most and least deprived areas has grown once again. Drugs are everywhere but those living in deprivation are considerably more at risk to harm and death caused by drugs.
The affects of ketamine and alcohol, not seen under the same public lense as heroin and crack cocaine, continue to worsen. Social etiquette, availability, and support for this area need to be addressed.
Deaths caused by benzodiazepines and methadone have dropped significantly but people are still at risk. With the reduction of opiate substitute therapy and specialist treatment seen in the PHS RADAR data, this isn't overly surprising.
The number of male deaths continues to rise while the number of female deaths continue to reduce (although not quick enough).
My thoughts: there are some really good pieces of work going on across Scotland that must not be forgotten. Organisations across the country continue to save lives but there are areas where we must do more. Funding stability from the top (Government) down is the most crucial element because organisations and their people need to understand what they're working with. Some areas get forgotten. We see the NHS boards of Ayshire and Arran, Forth Valley, and Grampian having significant increases in drug deaths. While the good work in Glasgow and Edinburgh is working and necessary, more remote areas must not be forgotten about.
My final point is this:
People are not "hard to reach", we just aren't reaching them.
Bring services to people's communities. Give people the power to control their own decisions around health and welfare. Increase drug testing so that people can make informed decisions around their substances. Increase naloxone provision so that people have control when things do go wrong. Provide safe injecting equipment in community settings to reduce the long term effects of poor injecting practice and equipment. Set up more opportunities for wound assessments in judgement-free spaces. Talk about drug use in your area and reduce stigma.
Please, if you haven't already, read and digest the report linked below and consider how you can make a difference to stop this crisis.
Comments