By Stuart McFarlane

Copyright dailyrecord

Drug deaths in Forth Valley and Stirling doubled in the first three months of this year. A total of 18 suspected drug related deaths occurred in Forth Valley from January to March – up from nine in the same period in 2024. In Stirling the figure for the same three months rose from three to seven. Police said, however, that the area reflected the picture across much of the country in terms of the demographic of those who are dying and the types of drugs involved. Stirling inspector Natalie Cook said older men appeared to account for many of the victims. Specific community enterprise work was taking place to tackle drugs and form the approach being taken in Forth Valley. This included looking at any drug related deaths as part of a national picture and whether there were any trends they could “get on top of”. “To give you some assurances there, there was a short life working group previously stood up to try and drill down into that in a little bit more detail and that’s done for Stirling then the wider Forth Valley and shared across the board in Police Scotland”, she said. “There is quite a spread of drugs that can be involved but in the main what we are seeing is that the people who are dying as a result of drugs tend to be males that are a bit older – so the demographic may be different to what the public would expect and the public reporting on that. “But what we are seeing is that people’s other comorbidities, the other health implications and the longer term impacts of abuse of drugs and alcohol, has in some instances been the main reason for that death. “Notwithstanding that, we look at the criminality that is involved in the background, who is supplying those drugs, the types of drugs and if we’ve got any particular trends that can help us identify where they are coming from. “What we’re seeing in Stirling and the Forth Valley is replicated across the rest of Scotland and is a British picture so there’s nothing peculiar here that we’re identifying that we need to be dealing with in any different way – but it’s just to give you some assurance that it’s something we are alert to and that we are working with partners.” Between April 2024 and March 2025 possession of drugs cases dropped across Stirling by 3.6 per cent from 186 to 193. Supply cases, including possession with intent to supply, fell from 43 to 25 over the same period, a 41.9 per cent drop.