Free heroin could help Scotland shake off unwanted drugs death title

Researchers headed up by global addiction expert have labelled Scottish opioid deaths shocking
Daily Record (UK)
Sunday, May 16, 2021

heroin useThe 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. 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."