Scotland recorded 607 suspected drug-related deaths in the first six months of this year, an increase of 18 deaths — three percent — from the same period last year, according to a Scottish Government analysis of Police Scotland management information.
The rise comes after the government launched a “national mission” aimed at cutting drug-related deaths. Official figures for the whole of 2024, published earlier this month, showed 1,017 drug misuse deaths for the year — a 13 percent decrease on the previous year and the lowest total since 2017, but still described by government sources as the highest rate in Europe.
The quarterly data indicate that deaths rose in the first and second quarters of this year. In the second quarter alone there were 299 suspected drug deaths, an 11 percent increase compared with the same quarter in 2024.
Males accounted for 78 percent of the suspected deaths, up from 74 percent last year, and 64 percent of those who died were aged between 35 and 54. By police division, Greater Glasgow recorded the highest number with 133 suspected deaths in the first half of the year, followed by Ayrshire with 73 and Edinburgh City with 60.
The figures reignited political debate over the Scottish National Party’s handling of the drugs crisis. Scottish Conservative drugs spokesman Annie Wells said the statistics exposed ‘‘the human cost of the SNP’s abject failure to tackle Scotland’s drug deaths emergency’’ and criticised supervised consumption rooms, including Glasgow’s Thistle Centre, which opened in January.
‘‘The SNP’s flagship drug consumption room policy has failed. The Thistle is costing taxpayers a fortune, wrecking the local community and failing to reduce drug deaths,’’ Wells said, adding that ministers were ‘‘ignoring the facts’’ by pressing ahead with plans for another consumption room in Edinburgh. She urged Deputy First Minister John Swinney to back the Scottish Conservatives’ Right to Recovery Bill, which the party says would guarantee access to treatment.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie said the increase in suspected deaths should be a ‘‘major wake-up call’’ and noted that the government had declared drug deaths a public health emergency nearly six years ago. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said his party was ‘‘working hard to unpick the damage done by the SNP,’’ adding that it was ‘‘horrifying that so many people are dying in Scotland’s drug deaths emergency.’’
Drugs Policy Minister Maree Todd offered her ‘‘deepest condolences’’ to families and friends of those who have died and said the figures were ‘‘a stark reminder that we must do more to address the harms caused by drugs.’’ She highlighted steps the government has taken under its National Mission on Drugs, including widening access to naloxone kits to reverse overdoses, creating more residential rehabilitation beds and providing what she described as record funding of more than £160 million for alcohol and drugs in 2025-26.
Todd also said the National Records of Scotland statistics for 2024 showed progress, while acknowledging the issue remained ‘‘complex’’ and required multiple interventions. She announced new funding to support local organisations targeting initiatives for communities, including support aimed at young people and women affected by drug harms.
The Thistle Centre, in Glasgow’s east end, provides a supervised place for people to inject drugs under medical supervision. Government ministers have previously said the facility has helped save lives, but the latest management information shows 133 suspected drug deaths in Greater Glasgow in the first six months of this year — unchanged from the same period last year.
Public health organisations and addiction specialists have argued that a range of measures is needed to reduce deaths, including treatment access, harm reduction services, housing and social support, while police and local authorities point to the continued presence of illicit drugs and entrenched patterns of problematic substance use.
The Scottish Government said it would continue to implement its national mission and to monitor trends in drug-related harm. Opposition parties have called for alternative or additional legislative and policy measures, framing the recent rise in suspected deaths as evidence that current approaches are insufficient.
The management information published by the Scottish Government provides an early indication of suspected deaths but is separate from final bereavement and cause-of-death statistics compiled by the National Records of Scotland, which are used for official year-on-year comparisons and policy assessments.
As ministers and opposition parties press their competing arguments, public health officials say monitoring, targeted interventions and further data analysis will be important to inform any changes to Scotland’s drug policy and services.