Scotland's shameful drug death rate has risen during the coronavirus lockdown, figures reveal.
Shocking statistics show the number of deaths since March is higher than the same period in 2019 – despite the Scottish Government setting up a Drug Deaths Taskforce last July.
Superintendent Tim Ross, of Police Scotland’s Safer Communities division, said: “Prior to lockdown, it appeared numbers had gone down slightly.
"Then we got hit by the pandemic and our suggestion now is that there has been a slight increase.
“The figures are concerning but we have not seen a huge spike. However, it is not good that the numbers should take this turn.”
Ross said efforts are being made to analyse the effect of coronavirus on drug deaths.
He added: “We speak to drug charities, third sector organisations and community workers on the ground.
“There was concern that there would be problems arising from chaotic or risky behaviour of drug users amid the uncertainties of the pandemic.
“There have been problems but we can’t put any rise in deaths down to any one thing. There have been issues with the supply, in terms of the quantity available, and the varying volume of active drugs in what is being sold.
“Our information is that the slight increase in deaths in Glasgow is also reflected in other parts of the country.”
In January, the Record told how the projections from the first half of 2019 made it look certain that last year would exceed the 1187 deaths of 2018.
The police figures represent suspected deaths but are not backed up by official toxicology results, which have been hampered by a contract row between the Crown Office and the Glasgow University lab that handles test samples.
Scottish Labour’s shadow health spokesperson Monica Lennon said: “If anything, lockdown has made life a whole lot tougher for people affected by addiction.
"That drug-related deaths remain high and may have increased in recent months is deeply sad and worrying. We need to see more action to deliver urgent and long-lasting change.”
Campaigner Annemarie Ward, of the FAVOR Scotland drug recovery group, said: “Deaths are definitely going up and no one in treatment is getting the support they need.
"They weren’t before Covid and its worse in all areas now.
“Mutual aid groups moving online and methadone clinics shifting to phone meetings and appointments makes people more isolated than ever.”
Ward added the Covid crisis has made it harder for addicts to stay in recovery.
