Drug-related admissions to Scotland's hospitals have more than trebled in just over two decades, according to official health figures.
Rates for admissions linked to opioids – such as heroin, morphine and codeine – increased by more than 400% over the period between 1996-97 and 2018-19.
It also revealed a massive spike in admissions for people aged between 35 to 44 - around 10 times higher over the period.
The figures were described as a scandal and led to renewed calls for better funding from the Scottish Government.
The latest data from Public Health Scotland covers hospital cases where inpatient treatment was needed and does not include accident and emergency patients who were not admitted for treatment.
These showed that in 2018-19 there were 259.9 hospital admissions linked to drugs per 100,000 people – up from 73.38 in 1996-97.
Scottish Liberal Democrat public health spokesperson Rosemary Bruce said: "It's nothing short of a scandal that drug-related hospital stays have skyrocketed over the last two decades.
"Too many families have been scarred by these problems and drained by their attempts to seek help at depleted local facilities. The SNP's 22% cut to drug and alcohol partnerships in 2016/17 was a bewildering mistake. Services and expertise which people relied on were lost."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Although these statistics pre-date the pandemic, they continue to show that drug and alcohol support must be maintained as priority services and we have ensured those at risk have access to these services throughout the current crisis.
"Between April 2020 and June 2020, 95.3% of the 7195 people who started their first drug or alcohol treatment waited three weeks or less, which has been a consistent trend over the past three years.
"Our drug death taskforce has continued to meet during the pandemic and has made a number of recommendations that were acted upon to mitigate harms from Covid-19-related service disruption and the potential impact on individuals.
"We want to ensure everyone who requires drug and alcohol treatment has access to it and our budget commits a further £20 million to reduce the harm caused by drugs. This means the total Scottish Government spend on drugs and alcohol in 2020-21 will be up to £95.3 million."
