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Drug-related deaths have reached 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 in the UK, even the number of deaths related to opioids has exceeded the number of people killed in road accidents. So today on Inside Health we ask, what's the real story behind these numbers? Who dies from drug overdoses and why – and how can we solve the problem? James Gallagher was joined by a panel of experts including: – Professor Catriona Matheson, Professor of Substance Use at the University of Stirling and former Chair of the Scottish Drug Mortality Working Group – Dr Caroline Copeland, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology and Toxicology at King's College London and Director of the National Substance Use Mortality Program – Dr Michael Blackmore, a GP from Grangemouth, central Scotland, who has a special interest in addictions and is by yourself. former drug addict, now 16 years in recovery. We also visit Professor Sir John Strang at the National Institute for Health and Care Research's Royal Clinical Research Center to see how he experiments with new ways to tackle rising deaths. Professor Strang works at the National Drug Addiction Center at King's College London and is monitoring heroin users in the laboratory to see if this could lead to the future development of a portable overdose detection device that could save lives. Presenter: James Gallagher Producer Jerry Holt Researcher: Minnie Harrop Editor: Ilan Goodman Production Coordinator: Ishmael Soriano If you are affected by addiction, detailed information about help and support is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. This episode was produced in collaboration with the Open University.
