Glasgow has the highest drug deaths in Scotland according to a new report.

Figures from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) revealed that last year 246 people died from drug misuse in the city.

This included 84 heroin, 118 methadone, 98 cocaine, 22 alcohol and five ecstasy cases.

The deaths have been branded "avoidable" by the Salvation Army who are now encouraging "investment in specialist support services" and "breaking drug stigma". 

Beng a provider of homelessness services they reported how substance use is often "a way for people to escape unbearable pain and trauma".

It comes as the reported linked poverty to the drug deaths as people in the most deprived areas of Scotland are more than 15 times as likely to die, compared to people in the least deprived areas.

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The association of deprivation with drug misuse deaths is much greater than with other causes of death.

Figures also showed that 1,172 people across Scotland died due to drug misuse in 2023, which was an increase of 121 deaths compared with 2022.

This is below the record high of 1,339 deaths which was recorded in 2020, and is the second-lowest of the last six years.

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Opiates and opioids, including heroin, morphine and methadone, were implicated in 80% of all deaths.

Almost nine out of 10 drug misuse deaths were classified as accidental poisonings, with 7% classed as intentional self-poisonings.

The NRS report also found that males are twice as likely to die a drug-related death than females, and that the year-on-year rise was driven by male deaths.

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Lee Ball, Director of Addiction at The Salvation Army, said: “Behind these tragic figures are avoidable deaths.

"We need more investment in a wide range of specialist support services but it's also important to break down the stigma of substance use for the individual, the family and the community.

“As a specialist provider of homelessness services, we see how substance use is often a way for people to escape unbearable pain and trauma - a last resort.

“Our Naloxone programme has allowed us to issue 105 Naloxone kits and we have now used it in 98% of unresponsive overdoses across our services in Scotland, 31 fatalities were prevented.

“Today’s statistics underline the scale of the challenge we still face in Scotland."

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Phillipa Haxton, NRS Head of Vital Events Statistics, said: “Today’s statistics show an increase in drug misuse deaths over the last year.

"The longer term trend shows that drug misuse deaths are still much more common than they were over two decades ago.

"In the medium term, today’s figures represent the second lowest number of deaths in the last six years.

"The figures show us that males were twice as likely to have a drug misuse death as females. Most of the increase in the past year was due to male deaths.

“Glasgow City and Dundee City had the highest rates of drug misuse deaths while East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire had the lowest.”