Two drugs experts have called for radical changes to policy to halt the mounting death toll.
Dr Paul Skett, honorary senior lecturer in pharmacology at the University of Glasgow, thinks addicts should get to buy from licensed shops and pharmacies.
The academic thinks Scotland should decriminalise drugs.
And police advisor Dr Stephanie Sharp thinks addicts should get heroin in jail to stop them taking more deadly alternatives.
She says it could save lives, reduce drug smuggling and curb attacks on prison officers.
Skett and Sharp are directors of the Glasgow Expert Witness Service, formed in 1991 to report on drugs and alcohol.
Skett says decriminalisation would cut fatalities by ensuring heroin is safe. Last year saw 1339 Scots drugs deaths – the seventh annual rise in a row.
Dr Skett said: “Users should be able to buy drugs in the same way they would alcohol in a pub. They would know then they were safe to take.
“Many addicts are dying from heroin overdoses because it is stronger than their body is able to take.
“If they were buying it over the counter from a licensed outlet, then that would not happen. When you decriminalise or legalise, you are introducing a quality control.”
Dr Sharp added: “There needs to be a safer alternative to the various untested drugs smuggled into prison each day. Heroin, when administered properly, is very safe.”
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