Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
Suspected drug deaths in Scotland
Letter from the Minister for Drug Policy to the Convener, 9 September 2021
Dear Convener,
Suspected drug deaths in Scotland - Statistics publication
I am writing to you ahead of my appearance in front of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on 14 September to alert you to the publication that morning of a ‘Suspected Drug Deaths in Scotland’ statistical release.
In January 2021 the Scottish Government announced a National Mission to reduce Scotland’s unacceptable drug death rates. As part of the commitment to support improved transparency and to provide more timely release of data on drug deaths it was agreed that, in addition to the annual drug-related death publication produced by National Records of Scotland (NRS), the Scottish Government would publish quarterly information on suspected drug deaths.
The report focusses on Police Scotland management information as a key indicator of recent drug death trends in Scotland and will be published quarterly going forward. The Police Scotland data presents deaths that the Police suspect involve illicit drugs based on reports of attending officers’ observations and initial enquiries at the scene of death. This differs from the official NRS annual measure of drug-related deaths which uses data from death registration records supplemented with information from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and forensic pathologists.
This publication has been pre-announced on the Scottish Government’s forthcoming publications page (line 495 on the table in the annexe )
I hope this information is helpful and I will be happy to answer any questions from Committee members on the contents of this publication when I appear at Committee on 14 September.
Angela Constance
Minister for Drugs Policy
Please note that the annexe links to an external site and may not be fully accessible.