Over 1,500 babies in Scotland born with drug or alcohol addiction

The number of babies in Scotland to have started out life addicted to alcohol and drugs continues to rise.

Freedom of Information requests revealed that at least 1,501 babies were born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) between April 2017 and October 2024 — a rise of 138 on the previous year.

The syndrome, which can result in uncontrollable trembling and hyperactivity, is caused by exposure to drugs in the womb.

Harm reduction

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, whose party obtained the figures, said there could hardly be a “worse start in life for a newborn baby than to be born dependent on drugs”.

He added: “The Scottish Government regularly make the headlines for their mishandling of drug deaths but in a host of other ways drug misuse can make lives a misery.”

In response, Health Secretary Neil Gray claimed: “Through our £250 million national mission on drugs, we are taking a wide range of evidence-based measures to reduce harm and save lives.”

Latest figures from the National Records of Scotland show that 1,172 people died of drug misuse in 2023.

Shooting gallery

Last week, the UK’s first drug ‘shooting gallery’ opened in Scotland.

The Thistle, a Scottish Government-funded facility in Glasgow, is open seven days a week and has effectively been declared a ‘prosecution-free drug zone’ by the Lord Advocate.

During a visit to the ‘drug consumption room’, First Minister John Swinney claimed it would enable users to inject in a “safer” environment, although centre manager Lynn MacDonald admitted that “people will overdose in this building”.

While drugs laws are decided at Westminster, the Scottish Government can set policy on how those laws are applied within the Scottish criminal justice system.

Wrong answer

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) recently called on the Westminster Government to halt the slide towards decriminalisation and strengthen law enforcement’s role to address illegal drug addiction.

According to CSJ, a record 5,448 people died from drug poisoning in England in 2023, an 84 per cent increase since 2013.

Almost ten per cent of adults aged 16-59 in England and Wales reported taking illegal drugs in the past year, although the think-tank noted that this is likely to underestimate the scale of the problem.

Sophia Worringer, the CSJ’s Deputy Policy Director, said: “Pretending liberalisation is the answer is plainly wrong. Everywhere you look, it has not stamped out the illegal drug market or acted as a silver bullet to reduce drug deaths or drug use.”

Turning off the supply

Evidence from North Wales indicates that tackling drug gangs is helping addicts kick the habit.

Since April, police have conducted 35 raids, made 180 arrests and seen crime fall by 14 per cent in Rhyl West.

Chief Inspector Dave Cust said: “Addicts have been coming up to us on the streets and telling us they’re struggling to get drugs because we’ve been able to start turning off some of the supply taps.

“Many drug users want to finish with drugs and it’s an important part of this project that we’re also supporting them and putting them in touch with the right people to get them off the drugs.”