Trending:

Scotland’s death rate due to drug misuse has increased by 6 per cent

By Matthew Roscoe • Published: 15 Dec 2020 • 18:54

Scotland’s death rate due to drug misuse has increased by 6 per cent on 2018 statistics after new figures showed that more than 1,200 people died last year.

The late figures have been attributed to a huge backlog in processing toxicology results and delays due to Covid-19 as the National Records of Scotland statistics are six months behind schedule.

The worrying stats finally published on Tuesday, December 15, which are the worst recorded in Europe, show a record number of deaths for the sixth year in a row with 1,264 representing more than double the number of deaths in 2014.

Scotland’s figures are three times and a half times the rate for England and Wales, revealing that two-thirds of those who died were aged 35 to 54 as the median average age of drug-related deaths rises from 28 to 42 over the past two decades.

Alarmingly, there was also an increase in deaths among 15 to 24-year-olds – from 64 in 2018 to 76 in 2019.

Thank you for taking the time to read this news article “Scotland’s death rate due to drug misuse has increased by 6 per cent”. For more UK daily news, Spanish daily news and Global news stories, visit the Euro Weekly News home page.

Written by

Matthew Roscoe

Originally from the UK, Matthew is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

Comments

Continue Reading