The professor behind Dutch addicts getting taxpayer-funded heroin has called on the Scottish Government to do the same in its fight against drugs.

Researchers headed up by world-renowned addiction expert Wim van den Brink analysed Scotland’s harrowing addiction death toll.

Their study found users are 20 times more likely do die mixing heroin with so-called street benzos than addicts in England.

Professor van den Brink, who led a pioneering scheme in the 90s that saw free heroin administered to users in the Netherlands, said he was shocked by Scotland’s drug problem.

He compared it to the opioid crisis in the US, where it is estimated 500,000 people have died from misuse since 2000.

The professor of psychiatry and addiction at Amsterdam University said: “When I started looking at the data in Scotland, I was left furious.

“Every expert in this field has talked about the opioid crisis in the US.

“But then you see a country closer that has a much higher rate and has been largely ignored – it’s shocking. We need to stop it. This is an epidemic.

“But as a society we largely don’t care about these people. This isn’t only a public health issue – it’s basically a human rights issue. There are various drivers to the problem and things that can help fix it.

“One involves heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) programmes for problem addicts.

"There is overwhelming evidence in countries that have used it that not only does it work but it turns out to be cost effective.”

HAT, used in other European nations including Switzerland and Germany, allows addicts to inject heroin in a clinic under medical supervision.

The radical programme was trialled in Glasgow in 2019. But just 20 addicts use the scheme.

Drugs Policy Minister Angela Constance said: “Work is under way to investigate how we can widen the trial in Glasgow and also make it available in other parts of Scotland.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called the number of drug deaths “indefensible”. Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick was fired after stats showed drug fatalities rose to a record 1264 in 2019.

Sturgeon admitted her team had taken their “eyes off the ball” over the deaths – the highest toll in the world.

Dave Liddell

David Liddell, of Scottish Drugs Forum, said: “Heroin-assisted treatment is legal and available in Scotland – but only to a handful of people in Glasgow. We need to make that kind of service available across the whole country.

“We need to start treating people with a drug problem in the same way other NHS patients are treated.

“As an NHS patient, if your medication was not the best one for you, then your prescriber would be working with you to find what works best for you.”