SUSPECTED drug deaths in Scotland fell by 11 per cent in 2024, according to new Police Scotland figures.

Rates of drug-related deaths in Scotland remain the highest in Europe, and more than twice that of any other constituent part of Britain, with deaths rising from 319 in 2003 to a peak of 1,339 in 2020.

According to Police Scotland, suspected deaths in 2024 were 1,065, 132 fewer than in 2023, 34 of them under-25s — a fall of 37 per cent over the same period.