The huge increase in Scotland’s drug deaths toll for 2025 shows the SNP’s approach to tackling the country’s drug deaths crisis has “catastrophically failed”, the Scottish Conservatives have said.
A total of 1,133 people lost their lives to drugs last year, an increase of 11 per cent compared to 2024.
Scotland’s drug deaths rate continues to be the worst in Europe.
Health and care spokesman Miles Briggs says that the SNP government cannot continue to “double down” on their policies which are resulting in more lives being lost and far too many people not getting the rehabilitation treatment they require.
Briggs says in light of the figures the SNP must rule out the opening of more drug consumption rooms, as well as shutting down The Thistle facility in Glasgow.
He added that five years on from Nicola Sturgeon admitting that she had “taken her eye off the ball” when it comes to tackling drug deaths, the SNP are still too busy focusing on their independence obsession to ever truly prioritise reducing the devastating number of lives being lost to drugs each year in Scotland.
Scottish Conservative health and care spokesman Miles Briggs MSP said: “These horrific figures show the SNP’s approach to tackling Scotland’s drugs deaths crisis has catastrophically failed.
“Behind these statistics are 1,133 families who are grieving the loss of loved ones due to drugs over the last year and my thoughts are with them.
“Scotland’s drug deaths rate remains the worst in Europe and that should shame the SNP.
“They cannot continue to double down on their policies when the number of lives being lost has soared over the last year. They must shut down their flagship Thistle facility in Glasgow and ditch any plans for more state-sponsored drug taking at drug consumption rooms, including in Edinburgh.
“And for all their grandstanding and virtue-signalling, it is those in Scotland’s poorest communities who are by far and away the most likely to lose their lives to drugs on the SNP’s watch.
“SNP ministers had a chance before the election to do the right thing by backing the Right to Recovery Bill to guarantee a right to treatment for all those who needed it. Instead, they played politics and the results have been devastating.
“Nicola Sturgeon admitted over five years ago she took her eye off the ball on reducing drug deaths, but still SNP ministers are failing to invest in delivering the rehabilitation and recovery support needed for so many vulnerable people across Scotland.
“Instead, John Swinney is too busy obsessing over independence and breaking up the United Kingdom to ever truly care about reducing the number of lives lost to drugs in Scotland.”
Notes to editors:
In 2025, there were 1,133 drug use deaths registered in Scotland, an increase of 11% (116 deaths) compared with 2024. Drug use deaths have increased over time. The number has fluctuated in the last five years but remains lower than the highest point in the series in 2020 (1,339 deaths). (Drug-related deaths in Scotland, 2025, 23 September 2026, link).
In 2025, the rate of drug use deaths in the most deprived areas of Scotland was 15 times as high as in the least deprived areas. In contrast, the rate is around two times as high for all causes of death. (Drug-related deaths in Scotland, 2025, 23 September 2026, link).
Scotland has the worst rate of drug deaths in the UK. After adjusting for age, the drug poisoning mortality rate in Scotland was 2.4 times the rate of England, 1.6 times the rate of Northern Ireland and 1.5 times the rate of Wales. Data for 2024 is the most recent year that data is available across the UK. (Drug-related deaths in Scotland, 2025, 23 September 2026, link).
Scotland has the worst rate of drug deaths in Europe. On the basis of the information available, Scotland has a higher rate of drug-induced deaths than the countries reported by the European Union Drugs Agency. In 2025,Scotland recorded 277 drug deaths per million people, double that of the next worst country, Estonia, who recorded 112 deaths per million people in 2024. (Drug-related deaths in Scotland, 2025, 23 September 2026, link).
