Table 7: Drug-related deaths involving only one drug by sex, age and selected drugs reported1, Scotland, 2016
Any drug: all such deathsHeroin / morphine2MethadoneHeroin / morphine, Methadone or Bupren-orphineCodeine or a codeine-containing compoundDihydro-codeine or a d.h.c-containing compoundAny opiate or opioidBenzodiazepinesCocaineEcstasy-typeAmphet-aminesAny other drug3Alcohol (with only one drug - see the examples given in footnote 1)
Any benzo-diazepineof which:
Diazepam

Footnotes

  1. Part (i) of this table gives the number of deaths for which each of the specified drugs was the only drug which was found to be present in the body. For example, a death for which:
    • both cocaine and alcohol were implicated would be counted twice: once under 'cocaine' and once under 'alcohol';
    • both cocaine and alcohol were implicated, and methadone was found to be present in the body but was not considered to have had any direct contribution to the death, would not be counted at all in the upper part of the table.
    The final column of part (i) gives the number of drug-related deaths for which alcohol was found to be present in the body together with only one drug. Part (ii) of this table gives the number of deaths for which each of the specified drugs was the only drug which was considered to have been implicated in, or potentially contributed, to the cause of death. The pathologist may have reported that other drugs were present in the body - but, if so, the pathologist did not consider that they had any direct contribution to the death. The final column of part (ii) gives the number of drug-related deaths for which alcohol was thought, by the pathologist, to be implicated in the cause of death together with only one drug. For example, a death for which:
    • both cocaine and alcohol were implicated would be counted twice: once under 'cocaine' and once under 'alcohol'.
    • both cocaine and alcohol were implicated, and methadone was found to be present in the body but was not considered to have had any direct contribution to the death, would also be counted under 'cocaine' and 'alcohol' (but it would not be counted under 'methadone').
    • cocaine, methadone and alcohol were all implicated would not be counted at all in this table.

    Note:

    Almost all the deaths which are counted in part (i) of the table are also counted in part (ii) of the table. However, there may be a few exceptions: A drug-related death for which National Records of Scotland (NRS) was told that only one drug (and, perhaps, alcohol) was found to be present, and for which NRS was not told that it was considered to have been implicated in (or potentially contributed to) the cause of the death, will be counted in part (i) of the table but not in part (ii). As a result, an occasional figure in part (i) of the table may be larger than the corresponding figure in part (ii) of the table.
  2. More information can be found in paragraph 3.3.1 of the commentary.
  3. This is any kind of drug other than an opiate or opioid, a benzodiazepine, cocaine, an ecstasy-type drug or an amphetamine.

© Crown Copyright 2017
(i) only one drug (and, perhaps, alcohol) was found to be present in the body
All such deaths66 14 4 18 1 4 35 3 0 5 6 3 14 16
Males43 10 3 13 1 1 18 3 0 4 5 3 10 12
Females23 4 1 5 0 3 17 0 0 1 1 0 4 4
Under 256 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 1
25-345 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 1
35-4428 8 2 10 0 1 14 3 0 1 2 1 7 9
45-5411 3 2 5 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 2 2 4
55 and over16 3 0 3 1 2 13 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
Males
Under 254 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0
25-344 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0
35-4422 6 1 7 0 1 10 3 0 1 2 1 5 7
45-548 2 2 4 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 4
55 and over5 2 0 2 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Females
Under 252 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
25-341 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
35-446 2 1 3 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
45-543 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
55 and over11 1 0 1 0 2 9 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
(ii) only one drug (and, perhaps, alcohol) was implicated in, or potentially contributed to, the cause of death
(other drugs may have been reported as being present, but were not considered to have had any direct contribution to the death)
All such deaths187 77 23 100 2 11 131 4 0 19 8 5 20 35
Males143 64 16 80 1 7 96 4 0 18 7 5 13 25
Females44 13 7 20 1 4 35 0 0 1 1 0 7 10
Under 2512 3 0 3 0 1 4 0 0 3 5 0 0 1
25-3431 17 3 20 1 1 23 0 0 6 0 0 2 7
35-4471 29 9 38 0 3 46 4 0 7 3 1 10 13
45-5444 19 9 28 0 2 33 0 0 3 0 4 4 10
55 and over29 9 2 11 1 4 25 0 0 0 0 0 4 4
Males
Under 258 1 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 2 4 0 0 0
25-3425 15 1 16 0 0 17 0 0 6 0 0 2 3
35-4460 25 7 32 0 3 39 4 0 7 3 1 6 10
45-5436 17 6 23 0 2 25 0 0 3 0 4 4 8
55 and over14 6 2 8 1 1 13 0 0 0 0 0 1 4
Females
Under 254 2 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
25-346 2 2 4 1 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
35-4411 4 2 6 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 4 3
45-548 2 3 5 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
55 and over15 3 0 3 0 3 12 0 0 0 0 0 3 0