In 2024–2025, there were 64 drug-related deaths in Scottish jails, a record high and a 60% increase from the previous year. Drug-related deaths and suicides have soared in Scottish prisons over the last decade, and a 2025 UK Government report estimated that 39% of prisoners in England and Wales could readily access drugs. At HMP Barlinnie, Scotland's largest prison housing around 1,500 men, an estimated 80% of inmates have a narcotics problem, with drug use rising dramatically in the last decade partly due to psychoactive substances entering the facility.
Drugs enter through visits, throwovers, and drones. A 2023 study revealed that almost a third of inmates in Scotland had illegal drugs in their system when released, with the most common being synthetic opioid buprenorphine and benzodiazepines. Drones flown into Scottish prisons often contain materials infused with drugs, such as powders, tablets, gels, putty, resins, pastes, crystals, and paper, and these 'poly substances' can test positive for three or four different drugs each in dangerous concentrations.
Synthetic drugs, such as nitazenes, are highly potent and can cause fatal overdoses even in tiny amounts, with nitazenes linked to more than 300 deaths in Scotland since arriving a few years ago. Synthetic drugs can make prisoners psychotic and violent. Staff face significant risks, with 75% of prison officers in Scotland concerned about health hazards from repeated exposure to toxic drug fumes on the job.
The Prison Officers Association is calling for guards to be issued protective gear against hazardous vapours and for research into the long-term impact of drug-contaminated air on staff. Rehabilitation efforts include the Recovery Cafe at HMP Barlinnie, run by the Sisco charity and peer-led by prisoners, which helps inmates get clean and address addiction-related trauma, featured in the BBC documentary 'Inside Barlinnie' airing on BBC2 starting Thursday. Severe overcrowding at HMP Barlinnie means most prisoners share cells and are fed on just £4 a day.