We already know what works to prevent drugs deaths..quality treatment and care services

Nats welcome 13% decrease but new nitazenes crisis causes concern | Fresh appeals to intensify £250m national mission to address problem

- BY MARK MCGIVERN

SCOTLAND'S drug death rate has taken a welcome drop but ministers have been warned that worse may be on the way.

Our nation remains the drug death capital of Europe by a long way, despite the 13 per cent fall for 2024 at 1017 deaths, down 155 on the previous year.

But unofficial quarterly reports in the first half of this year suggest that things could be set to change again, with the rise of suner-strong nitazenes, which are cynically mixed into other street drugs. A spike in the use of crack cocaine has also caused concern.

National Records of Scotland's official figures for the year mean there have been 10,884 lives lost to drugs in just 10 years.

While the latest figures have been welcomed in showing a downturn, there are now calls to renew and intensify the fiveyear, £250million "national mission" on drugs, which was announced in 2020 after a Daily Record campaign.

The statistics also show the failure to persuade drug users to stop mixing up polydrug cocktails which set Scotland apart in the death charts - from an ever-changing menu of deadly substances drug gangs make available on the streets.

After news of the latest numbers, politicians churned out the same statements that have become a hardy annual.