Can we reverse rising drug deaths?

Inside Health

BBC

Health & Fitness, Science

4.4 • 575 Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Drug-related deaths are at their highest levels in England and Wales since records began 30 years ago.

Scotland has had the highest number of drug deaths in Europe for at least seven years. And the UK has even seen opioid-related deaths surpass the number of people dying in road traffic accidents.

So today on Inside Health we’re asking, what's the real story behind these numbers? Who is dying of a drug overdose and why - and how can we tackle this issue?

James Gallagher is joined by an expert panel, including:

- Professor Catriona Matheson, Professor in Substance Use at the University of Stirling and former chair of Scotland’s drug deaths taskforce - Dr Caroline Copeland, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology and Toxicology at King’s College London and Director of the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality - Dr Michael Blackmore, a GP in Grangemouth, central Scotland, who has a special interest in addictions and is himself a former drug addict, now 16 years in recovery

We also visit Professor Sir John Strang at the National Institute for Health and Care Research King’s Clinical Research Facility to see how he is experimenting with new ways of tackling rising deaths.

Professor Strang is based at the National Addictions Centre, King's College London, and monitors heroin users in the lab to see if this could in future bring about a wearable overdose detection device to save lives.

Presenter: James Gallagher Producer Gerry Holt Researcher: Minnie Harrop Editor: Ilan Goodman Production coordinator: Ishmael Soriano

If you’ve been affected by addiction, details of help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

This episode was produced in partnership with The Open University.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast,
0:05.4	The Traitors Uncloaked. But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's
0:10.6	Saturday bonus episodes, the Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Ryland, and comedy specials
0:16.2	from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffel and Rommas Shranger Nathan. However, and maybe I'm biased, it's really all about the traitors uncloked.
0:24.3	So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and podcasts, listen only on BBC Sounds.
0:30.5	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.
0:35.4	Hello there and welcome to Inside Health.
0:38.0	I want you to think about some statistics for a moment.
0:40.6	This month in Aberdeen there are likely to be four deaths related to drugs.
0:45.2	In Birmingham, that number for this month is 12, Manchester 7, Cardiff 3 and in Belfast, 5.
0:52.6	Drug-related deaths, they're the highest they've been in 30 years
0:56.7	since records began. Scotland has the highest number of drug-related deaths in Europe. Here's
1:02.2	another example for you. The UK has seen opioid-related deaths surpass deaths even from road traffic
1:08.7	accidents. Just think about that, how much time and attention we pay
1:11.7	to the number of people dying on the roads, and yet actually it's far higher in opioid-related
1:16.7	deaths. And yet, it doesn't feel like we treat it with the same urgency or concern or think of it
1:22.2	as a critical health issue. So should we, should we think of drug addiction on a par with things like cancer or diabetes?
1:30.8	Well, today on Inside Health, we're going to take an in-depth look at what's going on in this country
1:36.8	and can we reverse this rising tide of drug-related deaths. So I've got a panel of experts to go
1:44.1	through this all. So let's meet them.
1:46.3	So first of all, let's hear from Professor Katrina Matheson. Hello, Katrina.
1:50.9	Thank you. Thanks for having me. So I'm a professor in Substance Juice at the University of Sterling.
	...

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