Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the use of naloxone by the Scottish Ambulance Service reached a post-pandemic high in 2025, and what its position is on whether this indicates that its drugs policy is working.
Naloxone is a life-saving opioid antagonist delivered through Scotland’s National Naloxone Programme to reverse overdoses and provide emergency response time for further medical intervention.
The increase in its administration by the Scottish Ambulance Service reflects the persistence of drug-related harms and demonstrates that frontline clinicians are equipped to intervene and prevent deaths.
The Scottish Government considers the effective deployment of naloxone to be clear evidence that harm-reduction measures are operating as intended by saving lives. At the same time, higher usage highlights the scale of ongoing harm. This is why we remain committed to delivering a comprehensive drugs policy that integrates harm-reduction with prevention, treatment ,recovery and enforcement measures to reduce deaths and address the underlying drivers of substance use.