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y year from drug misuse – and many more from alcohol – it is hardly surprising that the wider population is affected, says Dr Emily Tweed, a public health consultant in Glasgow.
“That trauma needs a community-wide response,” she said. “We need to engage health and social care professionals, schools and communities in reaching out to those who have poor health literacy and are struggling to access help.”
Recreational drug user Suzy is one of those trying to access help. She says she has been dealing with addiction for a long time.
“It’s a battle every day to just… get dressed, get up, get out of my bed,” she said. “Drugs are powerful. They just take over.”
“I’ve done things I’m really not proud of,” she added. “But like, that’s me, and I can’t fix that. I’m living in the past. My past is such a hard thing to think of.”
We know from figures published last year that the Scottish government’s target of reducing drug-related deaths by a fifth by 2025 will not be met.
Nonetheless, Progress, the Scottish government’s drug deaths task force, has a range of recommendations that could have a significant impact: while specialists have praised them, they argue they have not been implemented on the necessary scale
One key recommendation is to improve residential rehab services. These are, says Kirsten Horsburgh, “the most effective way to support recovery from problem substance use”.
Annemarie Ward agrees. She says she was fortunate because she could pay for help in the USA but most people don’t have that option.
She praises projects like an “integrated test-bed” in Dundee, which provides an environment for people to build their recovery.
The task force also wants to “increase prescribing capacity” so that everyone who needs it has access to life-saving medication such as methadone.
It also wants a care worker to be responsible for determining whether children affected by substance misuse have additional needs.
Drugs researcher Dr Sarah McBride, from the University of Glasgow, says the task force’s recommendations are “comprehensive and potentially very effective”.
But, even if they were all fulfilled it would only be a “starting point,” she said. “They are foundational. If we don’t address the complex and intertwined issues here, we are going to be firefighting this for a long time to come,” she warned.
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