It’s well known now that Scotland has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe, and this year’s statistics uphold that distinction despite deaths falling year on year.
These statistics should constitute a national crisis, yet the only visible action from the Scottish Government has been the establishment of a single safe consumption room in Glasgow.
To get a better understanding of the national picture and the government’s current position, Brig sat down for a conversation with the former chairwoman of Scotland’s drugs deaths task force, Dr Catriona Matheson.
Dr Matheson is a Professor of Substance Use at the University of Stirling and a freelance research consultant in drug treatment and harm reduction.
Public Discourse
Every year, the National Records of Scotland release statistics on the previous year’s drug deaths and it spawns a flurry of articles, podcasts and prime time news slots. But then, after a couple of weeks, the news cycle moves on until the same process repeats the following year like clockwork.
“It’s becoming a slightly tired issue for people, which is a shame because it’s still very much a problem. Interest in this peaked probably about three or four years ago, it’s such a difficult problem to get on top of and our drug deaths remain high.”
Dr Matheson added that it’s not just the general public that this applies to but politicians as well. While drug deaths had been trending upward since 2013, it wasn’t until the revelation of 2019’s substantial jump in deaths, over triple the number seen a decade prior, that the government took action by announcing a task force with the involvement of various government agencies.
“Unfortunately, with politics and these serious issues, the politicians used the terrible record of drug deaths as a way of just having a go at the SNP, the sitting government, it became a very political issue.”
Despite the issue remaining incredibly pressing in Scotland, it unfortunately doesn’t meaningfully command the national conversation the same way that issues like climate change, immigration or independence do.
Safe Consumption Rooms
Scotland’s first safe consumption room opened in Glasgow at the start of 2025 and is the most visible step forward regarding drug policy we have seen since the task force began.
While the safe consumption room is a strong step towards reducing deaths, Dr Matheson believes they will not have a significant impact on statistics at a national level.
“These are national level statistics and the safe consumption room in Glasgow is one service in one part of Glasgow, which is a big city with a big problem in a country with a bigger problem.”
Despite this, she is optimistic about the scheme as a whole “It’s about trying to get people into care or support of some sort, trying to join up the system of care and get them out of the most harmful, risky environments of street injecting.”
While many professionals believe that consumption rooms will be incredibly beneficial in their areas, not just by reducing drug deaths but also by reducing other harm factors such as the spread of HIV, it is unlikely that Scotland will see any additional facility in the next few years.
“We have to wait three to four years for a full evaluation for any others to be considered, I think everybody kind of agrees that that’s a bit daft really.”
The evaluation Dr Matheson referred to will come from the Lord Advocate who stated that she will need to see how successful the facility in Glasgow is before she considers approving any additional facilities.
Although approval remains at the discretion of the Lord Advocate, support for consumption rooms is growing in certain cities. “I think at a local Council level, Edinburgh has certainly shown that to be the case, they’ve got that level of local political support and it’s similar in Aberdeen. I think there is support for that.”
The Politics of Holyrood and Westminister
Drugs, and by extension drug deaths, are not just a public health issue but also a political and legal issue. Because of this, the approach to drug policy can change based on the political mood of the day, the goals of particular political parties and is all too often bogged down in parliamentary bureaucracy or political infighting.
Importantly, while health policy is devolved to the Scottish Parliament, policy surrounding controlled substances is not. This means that even if the Scottish parliament wanted to introduce reforms to drug classification and move to a health focused approach, it would be up to the discretion of Westminster to approve and implement the legislation.
Dr Matheson mentioned how the former Conservative Government was against reform and the new Labour Government has, so far, appeared to feel very similar, “It’s a real disappointment that Labour in Westminster are so conservative… in terms of drug policy.”
Regardless of party however, politicians in Holyrood don’t quite align with Westminster on this issue, “I think Scottish Labour are different, they’re more pragmatic and know that we’ve got particular problems here.
“As for the Scottish Conservatives, although they don’t support drug consumption sites, they did support some things… they’re a little bit more liberal in their views.”
“It’s a real disappointment that Labour in Westminster are so conservative…”
Despite this, she believes that there is more that can be done just at the Holyrood level.
“There’s loads they can do, actually.
“What we’re really missing is implementation of the actual strategies and policies… allowing our services and funding (to) flow through to support all of that.”
As an example of a policy that Holyrood could implement, Dr Matheson spoke about drug checking facilities.
“It’s something you see at festivals, somebody’s got a drug and wants to check it is what they think it is. Those have been really helpful across the country and they’re not expensive services.
“(The) Scottish Government has just taken ages because we have had proposals submitted from three areas in Scotland for about three years now.
“The sites are all kind of ready, but it just seems to have hit buffers at the Scottish Government level… they’re very slow at getting things addressed.”
“It’s becoming a slightly tired issue for people, which is a shame because it’s still very much a problem.”
The issue of drug deaths is incredibly complex so there is much more to talk about like what can be learned from other nations’ approach to drug policy, the role of the police, what universities can do to help students and how both gender and class impact drug mortality rates.
But there is no space for that here, just as there is no space for many of these nuances in the general conversation around drugs. Most people don’t have the time or energy to think about the issue that intensely and it is far from the only pressing and incredibly complex issue of the day.
However, it seems as though things are, albeit extremely slowly, progressing in the right direction. The mortality rate is trending downwards and the Scottish political establishment has begun to treat drugs as primarily a health issue, not a crime issue.
But, there is so much more that still needs to be done as while solutions waste away in the gutters of bureaucracy for years, every other day will see another body added to the pile.
The government needs to act, this is no longer an issue of politics, this is an issue of life and death.
Featured Image Credit: Tom Fisk via Pexels.com
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