Shock increase in diazepam addiction across Lothians

THE number of people seeking help because they are addicted to the prescription drug diazepam is on the rise in the Lothians.

Almost 700 people contacted support services to report they were misusing the sedative – a rate of nearly two a day.

The figures were released less than a month after Lothian and Borders Police recovered diazepam tablets valued at £70,000 smuggled into the country from Pakistan as illegal supplies of the drug grow in size and popularity.

The ISD Scotland study of patients between last April and March showed that 1123 in the Lothians sought help for their heroin addiction, while 129 wanted treatment for cocaine abuse.

The number of people seeking help for drug misuse hit 2096 for the Lothians during this period, with 46 per cent having dependent children.

The rising popularity of diazepam is thought to be down partly to its cheapness and easy availability, alongside a drop in the availability and quality of heroin. Drug charities say diazepam is being used as a heroin substitute, while it is often taken alongside alcohol and methadone to ease the comedown from crack cocaine.

On the street it is nicknamed “blues” or “vallies”, and a 10mg tablet is available for £1 or less.

Diazepam was cited as one of the drugs being abused by 692 individuals.

Jim Sherval, pictured right, a specialist in public health at NHS Lothian, said: “The first aim of any drug service is to engage and attract clients in to drug treatment. The overall statistics, therefore, demonstrate good access for patients to prevention, treatment and support initiatives.

“We have implemented a number of partnership programmes to tackle the problems of drug and alcohol misuse, including the highly successful LEAP (Lothians and Edinburgh Abstinence Programme].

“It is much easier to tackle drug problems at an early stage and we would encourage anyone who has difficulties with drugs to talk to someone as soon as possible.”

The £70,000 diazepam haul was seized in Prestonpans, East Lothian, last month, the latest in a series of recoveries made in recent months.

Meanwhile, at least 36 under-15s were listed in the study as having sought help for drug misuse problems in the Lothians.

A police spokesman said: “Lothian and Borders Police is committed to tackling substance misuse among young people, through a combination of early intervention and robust enforcement.

“In appropriate cases we will refer young people that we identify as having issues with substance misuse to social work, in order that action can be taken to address their behaviour.”