By Lynne Stewart

DUNDEE HAS the highest rate of problem drug use in Scotland, despite a drop in substance abuse throughout the country, according to a report published yesterday.

The city is estimated to have more than 2500 drug users, 2.8% of the population aged 15-54, misusing heroin and valium.

Nationally, the figures revealed a near 8% drop in the number of people abusing heroin and valium, with the number of users falling from 55,800 in 2000 to 51,582 in 2003, a reduction of 7.6%.

The research, which is broken down by Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) areas, shows that while Dundee tops the list, Greater Glasgow has the second highest rate with 2.64%, followed by Dumfries and Galloway on 2.43%.

Angus has an estimated 1038 heroin and valium users (1.99% of the population), Fife has 3022 drug abusers, 1.6% of residents, and Perth and Kinross around 1187 problem users, 1.76% of people in the area.

The prevalence of drug misuse shown in police force areas shows Tayside is second highest with 2.27% of people in the area abusing substances, behind only Dumfries and Galloway with 2.43%. Fife police force area was estimated to have a rate of 1.6%.

However, there is estimated to be fewer drug users injecting themselves, with 1094 injectors (0.52%) in the Tayside and 1124 (0.60%) in Fife Health Board areas.

Steven Dalton, team leader of Dundee Drug and Alcohol Action Team, said, “Whatever way you look at the figures, Dundee is top or second top and it’s a situation that we are taking very seriously. We are putting forward bids for services.

“An example of this is £800,000 we received from the NHS, a welcome approach from the NHS locally putting money into the service, money they have taken from another budget. They have taken a stand to change things using their own money. We are placing bids in order to try to tackle the problem that we have.

“Our concern is the hidden population of drug users not accessing treatment and we want to get to them. Research shows those in treatment do better than those who aren’t. The figures estimate there are 2522 problem drug users in Dundee. The actual number is 1109. In various ways they (report authors) can estimate how many drug users there are in Dundee and they estimate there are 1400 not in treatment.

“There is a degree of scepticism in the figures and that is not taking away from the fact that there is a problem in Dundee.”

“Waiting times in Dundee have come down dramatically over the last two years. They used to be a year long and they are now down to about 28 days.

“Added investment will reduce that even further. If we are successful with the bids we place we will be able to see more people and they won’t have to wait as long. The prevalence rate was higher in the last report in 2001 and has fallen by 1%. Taking that into account Dundee city has a fairly substantial problem.”

Of an estimated 51,582 drug users in Scotland in 2003 (1.84% of population aged 15-54 and a 4000 drop from 55,800 in 2000), an estimated 18,737 were injectors, a drop from 0.87% in 2000 to 0.67% in 2003.

Responding to the figures, deputy justice minister Hugh Henry said, “These show a welcome fall in the estimated number of Scots who are taking particularly damaging drugs like heroin and valium.

“It is particularly encouraging to see a decrease nationally in the numbers of addicts who are injecting. This finding supports our most recent statistics on drug misusers entering treatment—more of whom are getting treatment, but fewer of whom are reporting injecting.

“However the fact around 1% of Scots are still misusing heroin and valium is a real concern. Progress has been made but we must do more. That is why last October we boosted treatment and rehabilitation funding by £6 million to increase the number of people entering treatment each year from 12,600 to 15,600 by 2006-07.”