Daily Record Drugs summit demands more cash and focus on most deprived communities

A conference, organised by REACH board member Iain McPhee alongside Barry Sheridan and Labour MSP Neil Findlay, heard that a chronic lack of funding and a failure to implement clear policies have sent the death rate rocketing.

More than 500 delegates were told a chronic lack of funding and a failure to implement clear policies have sent the death rate in Scotland rocketing to the worst rate in the world.

The climbing death rate - 1,187 in 2018 - has seen the formation of the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce, which has been criticised for its slow pace.

From left to right, Dr Iain McPhee, Barry Sheridan, Caitlin Kane and Neil Findlay MSP (Image: Daily Record