Society is neglecting addicts, says the head of Scotland's drug deaths taskforce

Society is guilty of ignoring and neglecting addicts, the head of Scotland's drug deaths taskforce has said.

Prof Catriona Matheson was appointed to chair the taskforce last year after a record number of drug misuse deaths in Scotland acted as a "wake-up" call.

The much-delayed figures for 2019 are due to be published on Tuesday.

They are expected to be even higher than those for 2018, which showed 1,187 drug deaths - the highest in Europe.