Record drug deaths need radical response, says Scottish college

Bold measures including the decriminalisation of the possession of illicit drugs must be considered by politicians in response to record numbers of drug related deaths in Scotland, says the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

Drug users in Scotland have the highest death rate in Europe with 1187 fatalities being recorded in 2018, the biggest number since records began in 1996.1

Although illegal drug use is seen primarily by some as a criminal justice matter, the report from the college says it is, increasingly, a …