Cutting drug deaths must be election priority in Scotland

The Salvation Army is calling on political parties in Scotland to identify clear priorities for reducing drug deaths as the latest figures are published (Tuesday 17 March) by the Scottish Government in the final significant release of data on drug deaths ahead of the May election. 

There were 1,146 suspected drug deaths in 2025, 8% (81) more than the previous year (1,065). After following a downward trend in 2024, the rolling 12-month total of suspected drug deaths has been increasing. 

The church and charity is writing to all the Holyrood political parties calling for a continued focus on reducing drug deaths in the next Scottish Parliament, accompanied by key recommendations outlined in its recently updated report titled Breaking The Cycle.

Since 2021, more than 1000 suspected drug deaths have been recorded every year and annual numbers have remained broadly stable. In contrast, The Salvation Army has seen drug related deaths in its homeless services decrease by nearly 60% since the start of the decade. 

This is largely down to a harm-reduction approach in services run by The Salvation Army. It means standing ready with life-saving naloxone if someone relapses or overdoses, while helping people into recovery and eventually independent living. 

• The Salvation Army is calling on the Scottish Government, councils and Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) to ensure there is drug, alcohol and mental health support available at evenings and weekends in all local authority areas.
• The Salvation Army believes no individual, especially if they are experiencing homelessness, should be denied mental health support on the basis that they are using drugs or consuming alcohol.
• Cities and regions with high levels of rough sleeping should introduce a similar recording system of people sleeping rough to London’s CHAIN (Combined Homelessness and Information Network statistics).

These crucial interventions are among seven recommendations in Breaking the Cycle, which has been updated to ensure Scotland’s political parties have the latest advice ahead of their election campaigns.

Lee Ball, Director of Addiction Services at The Salvation Army, said:

“The Suspected Drugs Deaths figures vividly capture the scale of the challenge we still face in Scotland, with every death a tragedy for individuals, their families and friends. The Salvation Army is urging all political parties to maintain progress that’s been made but also ensure that reducing drug deaths is a priority for the next Scottish Parliament. We know a fraction of people affected by substance use in Scotland are offered the help they need − both short-term help to survive and longer-term help to thrive.” 

Susan Galloway from Fife went through some of the toughest experiences imaginable including homelessness, abuse and loss, contributing to drug and alcohol addiction from an early age. Contact with The Salvation Army began later in life through parent and toddler groups. Today she attends the local church in Glenrothes and volunteers. 

Susan said: 

“Early drug use became a way for me to cope when no other support was within reach. I was 11 when I started drinking because of what was going on at home and began using cannabis a few years later. Before long I’d moved onto heroin and street‑valium then overdosed for the first time. It wouldn’t be the last. The drugs helped me shut everything out. When I look back, my life from about 16 to 24 seems like a blur.”

After being placed in a secure unit Susan experienced physical and sexual abuse, which continued with a move to an open school and she soon ran away. “I couldn’t face it. When I was smoking heroin, I didn’t feel scared − if anything it made me feel braver. I think the social workers gave up on me, but being placed back with my mum brought its own chaos. At 15 I was with a man who sold heroin, and that’s when I started injecting. I remember feeling utterly alone and I ended up in unsafe homeless accommodation. Sometimes, when I think about those years it’s as if there was something dark inside me driving my choices. The way I acted back then… I barely recognise that version of myself.”

It was the birth of her first child that helped Susan turn a corner. Initially separated from her daughter by social services it was uncertain if they would be permitted to stay together. Susan said: “The NHS staff and social workers saw a total transformation in me. My heart was broken like never before and I would have done anything to get my daughter back. With nowhere else to turn I asked God to help me and I realise now that he had a plan − we had to be separated for me to change. If I’d just been given a flat and money with my daughter I might have carried on living the way I had been for years.” 

Susan has lovingly cared for her daughter in a stable home ever since and now has two more children with her husband. With several qualifications, experience working in social care and the support of The Salvation Army, Susan is in recovery. 

Lee Ball added: 

“Susan is proof that there is hope and recovery is real. As a provider of addiction services, The Salvation Army has helped hundreds of people overcome the harm caused by drugs. By introducing drug-testing and ensuring that naloxone, the opioid antidote, is always at hand we are saving lives and giving people a chance to thrive with a compassionate, harm-reduction approach. About 44% of all deaths among people experiencing homelessness are drug‑related(3). At The Salvation Army’s sites this is around 21%(4). 

“A lot of very good policy work has taken place in Scotland and that continues with Scotland's Alcohol & Drugs Strategic Plan. However, far too many services are not open when the need is greatest, at evenings and weekends. We found that only one-in-five drug services in Scotland are open at the weekend(5). Our Breaking The Cycle report contains seven key recommendations, some of which can help policy makers after the election maintain downward pressure on the tragic death toll from drugs in Scotland and give people a chance to rebuild their lives.” 

The full updated ‘Breaking the Cycle’ is available on The Salvation Army’s website: https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/sites/default/files/resources/2026-03/BTC_2026.pdf.