MSP in plea for more rehab funding after record drug deaths in Edinburgh

The Scottish Government is being urged to increase funding for rehabilitation beds to reduce drug-related deaths in Edinburgh and the Lothians after latest figures showed they had reached a new record high.

Miles Briggs says cuts should be reversed

Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs accused SNP ministers of failing to tackle the problem and said the focus should shift from methadone prescriptions to drug rehabilitation programmes.

National Records of Scotland statistics released in December revealed drug-related deaths in Edinburgh and the Lothians had risen from a previous record high of 152 in 2018 to a new record high of 155 in 2019. Across Scotland, drug-related deaths rose from 1,187 in 2018 to 1,264 in 2019.

Mr Briggs called for more funding for rehabilitation beds in NHS Lothian to support drug addicts in their recovery from drugs.

He said NHS Lothian currently provided no residential rehabilitation beds as such, thought it did operate a service called LEAP (Lothians and Edinburgh Abstinence Programme) in partnership with city council to provide a quasi-residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation service, with up to 100 places available per year.

The Conservatives have called for a dedicated £20 million Scottish recovery fund, backed by recovery organisations including Favor Scotland, Phoenix Futures and Jericho House, to restore cuts to rehab over the last 13 years.

A council-by-council breakdown shows that In Edinburgh drug-related deaths rose from 95 to 96, in East Lothian they remained the same at 18, in West Lothian they fell by two from 25 to 23 and in Midlothian they rose by four from 14 to 18.

In the last 10 years the number of drug related deaths has more than doubled in Lothian from 73 deaths in 2010 to 155 deaths in 2019.

The number of deaths from heroin in Lothian rose from 56 in 2018 to 69 in 2019. Deaths from benzodiazepine rose from 94 to 109, with “street” benzodiazepine deaths rising from 69 to 85, of which those related to Etizolam rose from 42 to 72. Deaths from cocaine rose from 51 to 62 and the number of alcohol-related deaths dropped from 25 to 22.

Mr Briggs said: “Every single drug death in Scotland is a tragedy and it is deeply concerning that the number of drug related deaths has risen year on year.

“Cuts to drug rehab beds and addiction programmes by SNP Ministers have been counterproductive in reducing drug related deaths in Scotland.

“SNP Ministers have failed to prevent people from using drugs or to support people off drugs if they have become addicted.”

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