Drug deaths toll a 'source of shame' for the SNP

THE SNP Government has been blasted for presiding over more than 35,000 drug and alcohol-related deaths since coming to power nearly two decades ago.

- BY JOHN GLOVER

Scottish Tories' Annie Wells called the figures a "source of shame" for SNP ministers.

Data shows more than 15,000 Scots have lost their lives because of drugs, and more than 20,000 due to alcohol since 2007.

The Tories are pledging to shut down The Thistle drug-consumption facility in Glasgow, and scrap the Nats' flagship minimum unit pricing policy for alcohol.