The Drugs Team at Public Health Scotland (PHS) compiles RADAR quarterly reports of drug-related indicators. The objective of this report is to monitor drug-related harms, service usage and toxicology data, in order to provide an early warning of emerging drug trends and identify actions to reduce and prevent drug harms and deaths.

April 2026 - Drug-related harms remained at a high level in the most recent quarter (December 2025 to February 2026). While some harm indicators have decreased, they remain higher or similar to the same period in 2024 and there has been a marked increase in suspected drug deaths compared with both the previous quarter and the same period in the previous year. Contamination of drugs with toxic substances is both common and widespread. Detections of nitazene-type opioids in post-mortem toxicology remained high overall, although they decreased slightly in the most recent quarter. The benzodiazepine market continued to shift, with growing reports of novel substances and changing tablet types. Cocaine remained the most frequently reported drug across treatment and toxicology data.

January 2026 - Main points: Drug-related harms remained high between September and November 2025. Although naloxone administrations fell compared to the previous quarter, they were 22% higher than in the same period in 2024. Most harms involved multiple drugs, reflecting continued polysubstance use. Significant market changes were also observed: clonazolam was the most common street benzodiazepine, detections of nitazene-type opioids in deaths reached their highest level to date, and cocaine remained the most frequently reported drug across treatment and toxicology data.