Scottish Drugs Forum
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31 August 2005
DRUGS deaths in Scotland last year rose to 356 – up 39 (or 12 percent) on the 2003 figures but 26 (or seven percent) fewer than the 2002 figure.
The Registrar General for Scotland’s report on drug-related deaths – published today (opens in new browser window) – also show that the 232 of the deaths involved people known or suspected to be drug-dependent, a slight rise from 216 in 2003 and broadly the same level as in every year since 1999 (except for 2002, when 280 died).
Individual deaths often involved more than one drug.
Up went the number of deaths involving:
Down went deaths involving:
A total of 76 of the deaths involving diazepam also involved heroin.
Most of the 232 deaths of known/suspected drug users were men (195) and most deaths also involved the 25-plus age group – just over 78 percent. Of these deaths of people aged 25 and over, 108 were aged 25-34 and 55 were aged 35-44.
David Liddell, Director of Scottish Drugs Forum, said:
“Although last year’s figures show an increase in drug-related deaths, the underlying trend averaged out over the last few years shows the numbers to remain roughly static.
“Much more needs to be done across Scotland to ensure that people needing help with their drugs problem are able to access a full and proper range of high quality treatment and care suited to their needs when and where they want it.
“The provision of outreach to help as early as possible when drug problems emerge and quicker access to better treatment are key issues.
"Meanwhile, the latest figures show the relatively high level of older drug users who are dying.
" This would highlight the particular vulnerability for people with long-term problems and the need for the helping agencies to encourage these people, many of who may have given up on themselves, into treatment by giving them hope that something can be done for them.
“Providing routes out of long-term drug use, though education, training and employment, are also key priorities if we are to reduce the number of deaths."
Rises in drug deaths were seen in:
Deaths dropped in:
The Borders recorded two deaths – no change on the 2003 figures, while Orkney and Shetland repeated their zero drugs deaths figure of 2004.
The information presented about drug-related deaths in Scotland uses the revised definition for baseline figures introduced in 2001. This definition was agreed by a working party set up following the publication in 2000, by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), of a report on 'Reducing drug related deaths'. The revised definition is also being used elsewhere in the United Kingdom, according to the Registrar General’s Office.
See Reports highlight way forward to reduce drug-related deaths
26 August 2005
An estimated 19,227 people received methadone prescriptions in 2003/04 at a cost to the NHS of £11,675,767, according to new statistics released by ISD Scotland. (opens new browser window)
The figures showed an increase from an estimated 16,401 users in 2002 and 18, 017 in 2003.
The average cost per patient per year in 2003, was £609, but this estimate includes only the cost of the medication and dispensing, and not any clinical costs.
18 August 2005
THE STUDENTS' Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) has allocated extra grants for full time study to the Post Graduate Courses in Alcohol and Drug Studies at the University of Paisley, for the forthcoming academic year.
Anyone interested should call for application pack from University of Paisley Direct on 0800 027 1000 or see :www.paisley.ac.uk. (opens new new browser window) For further information contact ken.barrie@paisley.ac.uk.
26 August 2005
THE NAME of Scotland's drug enforcement body has been changed to Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency to reflect its broad remit in fighting crime, the Scottish Executive has announced today. The change follows consultation earlier this year and forms part of a forthcoming package of measures to modernise common services among police forces.
The Executive proposes to bring in legislation to establish a new statutory body, the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA).
SPSA will be responsible for maintaining the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (formerly the SDEA).
SCDEA will have new statutory functions of its own and will be under the direction and control of its own Director.
For the first time, there will be provision for police officers to be directly recruited to serve in SCDEA - until now, it has had to depend entirely on officers being seconded from Scottish police forces
The SPSA will be directly responsible for providing a range of other common services, including those currently provided by the Scottish Police College, Scottish Criminal Record Office and Scottish Police Information Strategy, as well as developing and providing a new national forensic science service. Ministers plan additional flexibility in the legislation to bring additional support services into the new body at a later date.
Scottish Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said: "Today's announcement about a new structure, and indeed a more appropriate name, may be technical changes. But they will help the agency to do its job more effectively - for example in the recruitment of key staff - and that has potential benefits for any community facing up to the threat from drugs and organised crime."
9 August 2005
THREE reports highlighting the facts behind Scotland's drug-related death statistics and suggesting ways to improve efforts to reduce the death toll have been published a this major conference yesterday organised by the Scottish Executive in association with Scottish Drugs Forum.
The National Investigation into Drug Related Deaths, 2003 (opens in new browser window)- ordered by Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry following the publication of figures showing a record 382 such deaths in Scotland in 2002 - and recommendations for action from the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse (SACDM) Drug Related Deaths Working Group (opens in new browser window) were published alongside each other at the event.
Also published was a report on the results of separate focus group surveys of former and current drug users carried out by Scottish Drugs Forum. It looked into the barriers they considered prevented drug users calling emergency services as soon as an overdose was identified.
One of the key findings of this study What are the views of drug users when there is an ‘overdose situation’ that requires contacting emergency services? (221.4KB, in PDF format - You will need Acrobat Reader) was that fear of police being called to an overdose scene was the foremost barrier to users calling for ambulance help more quickly.
Scottish Drugs Forum is now calling for a review of the current police and ambulance protocol in Scotland under which police are automatically notified of all overdoses attended by the Scottish Ambulance Service. The aim of the review would be to establish the feasibility - on a multi-agency basis - of a system under which police would not automatically be notified of/attend non-fatal overdose incidents. along the lines of a model which has been working between police and ambulance services in Greater Manchester since 2002.
Under the Greater Manchester protocol, the ambulance service does not call the police to overdoses unless exceptional circumstances such as fatal overdoes, where a child is at risk or paramedics are threatened with violence.
Among the other key findings of the National Investigation were that: