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Inverness charity calls for a war on heroin


By Staff Reporter

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Rev Richard Birkett.
Rev Richard Birkett.

AN “all out war” is needed on heroin after new figures revealed the number of drug-related deaths in the Highlands has almost doubled in the past 10 years.

That was the claim made by the Rev Richard Burkitt of the Merkinch-based charity For the Right Reasons after it emerged there were 36 deaths attributable to drugs in the NHS Highland area last year, compared to 20 in 2008.

The increase closely mirrors the national picture, with 1187 drugs deaths across Scotland as a whole in 2018 compared to 574 a decade previously. Scotland now has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe.

Rev Burkitt said: “It shows the terrible dangers of heroin – it takes hold of you and it is terribly difficult to get off it.

“It starts off as something cheap, a £10 bag a day, and before you know it you need five bags a day.”

Full story in today's Highland News.


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