Tuesday September 29th 2026
West Lothian Civic Centre
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Stuart Sommerville
West Lothian’s Lib Dem councillor has called for the roll out of safe consumption rooms to the county in the wake of growing drug deaths.
Linlithgow’s Sally Pattle called on Holyrood to fully fund addiction services and recognise the growing dangers of new and synthetic drugs flooding the market.
The Scottish Government said Alcohol and Drugs Minister Maree Todd will continue to prioritise a public health response to drug deaths.
NRS last week revealed there were 39 drug deaths in West Lothian last year, a significant rise on the 2024 figure. Across Scotland the number of deaths was also up, at 1,133.
This was an increase of 77.3% compared to 2024. In the last 10 years, the number of drug deaths in West Lothian has increased by 160%.
Councillor Pattle told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Scottish Liberal Democrats have been warning the government about nitazenes for almost three years, but ministers have done nowhere near enough to get on top of that threat.
“We now need to see a national roll-out of safer drug consumption centres, including for those in West Lothian, because these facilities are proven to save lives.”
Councillor Pattle added: “It is deeply upsetting to see so many drug deaths in West Lothian. Each death represents nothing short of a tragedy for families.
“We are now five years into the SNP’s national mission to tackle drug deaths, but the crisis has now taken a major turn for the worse.”
She said: “From introducing multi-year funding for all drug and alcohol services to long overdue drug checking services, there is no shortage of powers that the Scottish Government has at its disposal to end this crisis.”
Responding to the LDRS The Scottish Government admitted that more needed to be done.
Drugs Minister Maree Todd said: “My heartfelt condolences go out to everyone who has lost a loved one to drug use. Each and every death is a tragedy, and even more so because every life lost to drug harms is preventable.
“Against an increasingly toxic and unpredictable drug supply, this rise is deeply concerning and unacceptable. The increase in deaths involving cocaine, and the continued threat from dangerous synthetic opioids like nitazenes, must drive more coordinated action across the country.
“We have taken important steps forward, including funding more than 1,100 residential rehabilitation placements last year and widening access to treatment and life-saving naloxone.
However, despite these policy interventions, and the actions of our valued frontline workers, it is clear we need to do much more to reduce this tragic loss of life.
“Our new Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan will strengthen surveillance, deepen links between treatment, housing and other services, and target support at the communities most at risk. In addition, Scotland’s first local drug-checking service will open in Glasgow this October – building on the UK’s first safer drug consumption facility.
“Whilst we are using every lever available through our devolved powers, it is clearly now vital that the UK Government work with us to transfer the greater powers over drugs policy that we require to treat drug harms fully as a public health issue.”
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