Scotland has been named the drugs death capital of Europe for the seventh year in a row as a deadly synthetic opioids crisis grips the country.
There were 1,017 drug misuse deaths in Scotland last year, new figures from the National Records of Scotland have shown.
The number of fatalities have fallen to their lowest levels in eight years and dropped by 13 per cent compared to 2023.
However, Scotland's drugs death rate - which is 191 per one million people - remains the worst in Europe.
According to the most recent European data, the next highest rate was Estonia with 135 deaths per million people in 2023.
