Why does Scotland have so many drug related deaths?
Deaths from drug use in Scotland rose by 11% last year
More than 1,000 Scots died last year as a result of drug use, which was a "tragic" rise of 11%, latest statistics have revealed.
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Last year, 830 men and 303 women died because of drug use, according to the latest statistics from the National Records of Scotland.
The 1133 drug related fatalities in 2025 are up from 1017 the year before, and this has led to Scottish drugs minister Maree Todd lamenting the "preventable tragedy".
“My heartfelt condolences go out to everyone who has lost a loved one to drug use," she said.
“Every death is a tragedy, and even more so because every life lost to drug harms is preventable.”
Read also: Scotland knows how to reduce drug deaths but is failing to do so
Why does Scotland have so many drug-related deaths?
The reason for the rising number of drug-related deaths in Scotland has been attributed to factors such as:
- Poverty: Around one in five Scots live below the poverty line, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation,
- Potency and supply of drugs: Ms Todd has attributed the "increasingly toxic and unpredictable drugs supply" for this issue,
- Partying culture: Scots have a reputation for partying with alcohol and drugs amid the long and harsh winters,
- New types of drugs and stronger strength established drugs: Powerful nitazenes - highly potent synthetic opioids - were linked to 247 deaths, up from 76 in 2024. Ms Todd said: "The increase in deaths involving cocaine, and the continued threat from dangerous synthetic opioids like nitazenes, must drive more coordinated action across the country.”
What is being done to help with the drug crisis?
Ms Todd told the Scottish Government that "important steps" are being taken, including funding more than 1,100 residential rehabilitation placements last year and widening access to treatment and life-saving naloxone.
She acknowledged that "much more" needs to be done.
“Our new Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan will strengthen surveillance, deepen links between treatment, housing and other services, and target support at the communities most at risk," she said.
“I have also announced today that Scotland’s first local drug-checking service will open in Glasgow this October – building on the UK’s first safer drug consumption facility.”
She said that while the Scottish Government was “using every lever available through our devolved powers,” more powers over drugs must be transferred from Westminster to help tackle the problem.
“It is clearly now vital that the UK Government work with us to transfer the greater powers over drugs policy that we require to treat drug harms fully as a public health issue,” Ms Todd said.