EXPERT AIRS HARD DRUGS FEARS AS DEATHS SOAR

DRUG DEATH rates are spiralling in Scotland because users are risking
overdoses by taking stupefying narcotic cocktails, a Tayside expert
said last night.

Dr Brian Kidd, lead clinician of NHS Tayside's Substance Misuse
Service, also said a cultural shift towards injecting hard drugs such
as heroin rather than the pill-popping culture of the 1990s had seen
death rates rise dramatically.

New figures released by the Registrar General for Scotland yesterday
revealed drug deaths in Dundee increased to 23 in 2007--a 43% rise on
the previous 12 months when 16 were recorded.

The statistics for Fife also painted a grim picture with 28
drug-related deaths in 2007 compared to 19 in 2006.

However, the news was more promising in Angus and Perth and Kinross,
with both council areas seeing a significant drop in drug-related
deaths to just three each last year from 11 and eight respectively.

In Scotland as a whole the outlook was bleak with 455 drug
fatalities--an 8% increase on 2006 and the highest figure ever
recorded. A third of the deaths occurred in Glasgow.

Dr Kidd said heroin was linked to the majority of drug deaths in
Scotland but he said often those who overdosed had taken a cocktail
of substances.

He said multiple drug use significantly increased the chances of a
fatal overdose as the various substances worked together in a user's
system and the combined hit could be significantly more powerful than expected.

Dr Kidd said drug use was extremely complex and he said it was
impossible to pinpoint a single factor, which if eliminated, would
reduce deaths.

However, he said greater education about drugs and about what to do
in the event of an overdose--most people are with at least one other
person when they fall into a potentially fatal stupor--were vital.

He also said he believed the Scottish Government's new strategy to
help people recover from addiction was a step in the right direction.

Dr Kidd said, "Back in the 80s there was a lot of injecting drug use
but by the 1990s injecting drug use was going down and consequently
the risks were reduced very significantly.

"Now we are seeing a next generation of injecting drug users and what
we are maybe seeing is people taking more risks.

"I would agree heroin is the number one concern--in about 60% of all
deaths in these figures, heroin is a contributory factor.

"However, there are two other drugs--alcohol was present in over 150
of these deaths, and diazepam or benzodiazepines--which are a huge
factor in Scotland in drug deaths.

"Although heroin is a risky drug, the risk is multiplied with
poly-drug use (the simultaneous use of several drugs) involving
opiates, alcohol and benzodiazepines."

Tayside Police drugs co-ordinator Inspector Wendy Symington said
positive steps had been made in reducing drugs supply into the region
in recent months.

She said, "We have had quite a number of fairly high profile (drug)
operations recently which have reaped quite a lot of benefit. They
have been very successful and we are hearing anecdotally that there
may be a shortage of heroin (on the streets.)

"We concentrate on enforcement but we also do have a responsibility
for harm reduction and prevention as well."

David Liddell, director of the Scottish Drugs Forum, said, "There are
also huge obstacles to overcoming underlying factors such as poverty,
social breakdown and the difficulty of accessing quality training and
employment opportunities for people trying to avoid or move on from a
drug problem."

Nineteen of the 28 deaths in Fife last year involved heroin or
morphine, with methadone, diazepam, ecstasy and alcohol also to
blame--although individual deaths often involved more than one kind
of substance, writes Craig Smith.

A total of 16 deaths were put down to drug abuse and eight to
accidental poisoning, with four caused by "undetermined intent."

Health chiefs and addiction support groups in Fife will be even more
concerned at least 18 people have already died as a result of drug
use between January and May this year--three more than in the same
period in 2007.

NHS Fife have warned drug users of the dangers of mixing different substances.

Dr Frances Elliot, NHS Fife medical director, said, "Every effort is
made to inform services involved with drug and alcohol users of the
need to keep users informed of the potential lethal cocktail when
assessing individuals."

Recent figures also revealed numbers accessing treatment for drug and
alcohol addiction trebled in Fife last year after a redesign of services.

Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing said the figures preceded a
new drugs strategy but warned, "It will take months and years to
achieve and the scourge of drugs will not disappear overnight."