The number of people prescribed methadone in Tayside has rocketed by 300% in the last decade but an addictions expert says this only means that more illicit drug users are getting vital treatment.
Dr Brian Kidd says politicians investing greater resources in a section of society viewed by many as an “irritant” was “a big ask” but was imperative to tackle drug deaths and low life expectancy.
Around 2,500 people in the region currently receive methadone treatment with more than £1 million spent last year in Dundee alone dispensing the drug.
Dr Kidd, who heads the Scottish Drugs Strategy Delivery Commission, said despite the rise, the actual number of drug users in Tayside was roughly the same as it was ten years ago.
He said: “When I came here in 2003 there were about 800 people in treatment and there were 4,500 people who probably required treatment.
“Now we have 2,500 people in treatment and about 4,500 people who require treatment. All that means is that the unmet need is being squeezed, so we are managing to respond to something like 50% of the treatment population now.
“It’s not that the problem is increasing, it’s that the services are growing to match the problem.”
Dr Kidd said methadone alone was not the solution, but a huge investment in other services would be required to effectively treat every case. He said: “It’s a big ask to suggest that politicians invest something in a group of ostracised and excluded individuals that people think are an irritant rather than an inclusive group.
“What all the advice about recovery tells us, is that social exclusion does not reduce this problem.
“People can’t say they’re annoyed that lots of drug users are dying, but they’re not going to invest what’s required in order to stop that happening.
“This group fulfils a role in society by being easily excluded and being seen as the problem, rather than as a vulnerable group of people who are at very much higher risk of death than their peers.”
Dr Kidd said that along with placing someone on methadone, a plan has to be in place to understand their personal addiction programme and assess their psychological health problems.
He said: “Access to specialist psychology in addiction is available in less than 50% of the health board areas. So lets’s assume you have a service that is able to get everyone onto methadone within a day and get them stable. There should be support for the development of mutual aid, getting people who have recovered supporting one another. Many areas really struggle to make that happen.
“If you are a drug user and you are spending £100 a day on heroin and not paying your rent and get thrown out of your house, how easy is it to get another house? Not easy at all.
“So you might come into methadone, you’re in Tayside, so you can access a psychological specialist. But you’re living in homeless accommodation where everyone is a drug user. So you can’t get a house and you’re blacklisted until your rent arrears are paid.
“A significant proportion of them are going to have significant psychological difficulties that need to be managed. Unless you have access to that you are not going to achieve those things.
“Unless I can get you access to the right treatments for that, you will not progress. It’s a constant process of setting achievable goals and reaching them for years and years.”