MSP Jackie Baillie has said her thoughts are with families affected by Scotland’s drug death toll.

The politician spoke out after new figures, published last week, showed drug deaths in Scotland had fallen marginally – but at 1,017 deaths in the last year, remain the highest in Europe.

Data also reveals that the number of drug deaths in West Dunbartonshire was one of the highest in Scotland – at 29.8 deaths per 100,000 people – above the Scottish average.

Glasgow City was the authority with the highest number of drugs deaths – at 41.1 per 100,000.

Nationally, there were 1,107 drug misuse deaths registered in Scotland in 2024, a decrease of 13 per cent.

In 2023, 1,172 drug deaths took place in Scotland, which fell to 1,017 in 2024.

The figures also highlighted the link between deprivation and drug misuse, with people in the most deprived areas of Scotland 12 times more likely to die as a result of drugs misuse than those in the least deprived.

Commenting, Scottish Labour Health spokesperson, Jackie Baillie, said: “My thoughts are with every single one of the thousands of families affected by Scotland’s drug death crisis.

It is welcome news that there have been fewer drugs deaths in West Dunbartonshire, but these figures are still far too high.

“Every life lost to drugs is a tragedy and each has a devastating impact on families in our community. There are still far too many lives being needlessly cut short.”

She also cautioned Mairi Todd, the Scottish Government’s Minister for Alcohol and Drugs, to the crisis, adding: “The Minister referred to the progress made with the latest drug death figures.

“In truth progress has been far too slow – 1,017 people lost their lives to drugs last year and over 6,000 since the Scottish government declared a public health emergency, six years ago.

“Funding for Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships amounts to a real-terms cut and this is reducing funding for local services.

“But there is a new danger emerging with the rise of synthetic opioids in our communities.

“These drugs don’t respond to typical doses of naloxone and the number of deaths is increasing. You only need to look at the scale of the problem in America to see what’s coming.

“In this context, the SNP must accept that its policy on decriminalising drugs is completely wrongheaded.

“The SNP must drop this policy and focus on providing routes out of addiction with improved access to rehabilitation services.”