Drug deaths in Tayside continue to rise amid 'gross health inequality'

In May, new figures showed drug deaths in Scotland have almost doubled within eight years, giving the country the highest rate in Europe.

Today, a detailed paper from NHS Tayside reveals the impact on that region, where most of those killed were parents and more than half passed away in the area's poorest communities.

The authors wrote that while these non-intentional overdoses "should be avoidable", "we are still seeing increasing numbers of drug deaths occurring, with each one a tragedy affecting families, friends and communities".

Of the 78 people to lose their lives to drugs in the NHS Tayside area in 2018, 58 were men and 20 were women.

The number of those killed is equivalent to the number of children, including adult children, who were left behind. More than half of the casualties – 47 – were known to be parents.

Spanning Angus, Dundee City and Perth & Kinross, the deaths were concentrated in Dundee, which last year overtook Glasgow to have the country's highest drug death rate, and, at the time of death, almost half of individuals were known to have a concurrent mental health condition.

Another 25% had experienced mental health problems earlier in their lives.

Almost 80% were known to have experienced some kind of trauma and half had been in prison or on remand at least once.

The mean age of those killed was 40, in line with a general trend also seen elsewhere in the country.

However, this is far lower than the national average age of death – 81 for women, 77 for men – and the report calls the problem "a gross health inequality", stating: "The majority of drug deaths occur in people who have experienced considerable life adversity, often from a young age.

"Factors that influence risk are multi-dimensional and problematic drug use is rarely an independent choice by an individual but the result of a complex interplay of social, economic and health factors.

"It is contingent on us all, across organisations and agencies both locally and nationally, to work together as a priority with people, families and communities affected to halt this current trend and reduce the incidence of drug deaths in future."

More than half of those killed had survived an overdose before, including 10 people who were known to have overdosed in the 28 days before their deaths.

In total, 22 individuals had experienced 65 separate non-fatal overdoses in the seven months prior to dying.

Etizolam – street valium – was present in more than 60% of cases.

Dave Barrie, manager of Addaction Dundee, says that rate surprised even his service, which works with around 50 drug users at any given time.

He told The National: "Dundee has been described as a renaissance city. We have really fantastic things going on, beautiful things, but at exactly the same time we have got the worst drug deaths in Europe. It's heartbreaking.

"We are constantly around drug deaths. We go to the funerals, we see the grans, their mums, their children. When you are doing that on a regular basis, the impact on us and on the community is massive.

"The moralistic high ground I hear most days is extremely frustrating. No-one sets out to become addicted to drugs. Our society has to get its head around this and challenge the stereotypes.

"Scotland needs to be much bolder in its approach. We need to double our efforts, we need to be thinking right out of the box – what are we doing, why aren't these numbers reducing?"

Dr Emma Fletcher, chair of the Tayside Drug Death Review Group, said: “People should not be dying as a result of drug use and in Tayside we are committed to seeing these current trends changed.”

If anyone has concerns about their own drug use or that of a friend or family member, NHS Tayside would encourage them to seek support from:

Dundee: Integrated Substance Misuse Service, 01382 632542

Angus: Angus Integrated Drug & Alcohol Recovery Service, 01241 435820

Perth and Kinross: Drugs and Alcohol Team, Highland House, 01738 474455