From Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) quarterly ​report October 2026, the above and:

Of particular interest:

82% of cases were aged 35 years and over. The most common age categories were 45 to 54 years (32%), followed by 35 to 44 years (26%) and 55 to 64 years (20%).

Source: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/rapid-action-drug-alerts-and-response-radar-quarterly-report/rapid-action-drug-alerts-and-response-radar-quarterly-report-october-2026/harm-indicators/suspected-drug-deaths/

From the BMJ in 2026:

Scotland saw a spike in deaths related to drug use last year—with a fifth of deaths linked to a group of highly potent synthetic opioids called nitazenes. Drug use deaths in Scotland rose by 11% (116 deaths) to 1133 in 2025, figures from National Records of Scotland (NRS) show.

However, the substances responsible for the deaths are changing. In 2025 more than a fifth of deaths (247, 22%) were linked to nitazenes, a class of synthetic opioids that can be hundreds of times more potent than heroin. This was more than triple the number of deaths linked to these drugs in 2024. https://www.bmj.com/content/394/bmj-2026-100969

Despite this suspected drug deaths have fallen thanks, it must assumed due to NHS Scotland ‘s target beating drug treatment and the Scottish Government’s world-first Naloxone opioid overdose-reversal kit distribution:

In just one three-month period, 3 784 (96%) of 3 993 referred drug-users began treatment within three weeks and one third of them in only one week

Nearly 90% (10 000) of those at risk of opioid overdose have been issued with the ‘world-first’ Scottish Government Naloxone reversal kit as drug deaths misinformation hits the headlines for and by the under-educated

Scotland’s world-first Naloxone opioid-reversal kits will help stem the tide of death but cannot stop this cross-border flow