Councillors have pleaded for the decriminalisation of drugs to be considered to stop lives being lost to addiction.

A sombre report to West Dunbartonshire Council last week showed a three-fold increase in drug deaths to the area in the past two decades.

The rate of deaths was 7.6 per 100,000 between 2001 and 2004. But that has now risen to 26 between 2016 and 2020.

There were 29 residents who lost their lives last year in the area, down slightly from 32 the year before. In 2013, there were eight deaths.

Councillor Jim Bollan said the report was “extremely sad and depressing”.

He said: “All councils know it, the Scottish Government knows it, Westminster knows it – but do they try to change policy? No.

“We need to start talking about decriminalising drugs. We need to try to change the decisions. We need to think outside the box and listen to some of the police and some of the MPs.

“I would ask the council to feed into the drug partnership and into national policy that we need to have that decision and debate.”

Councillor Martin Rooney, sitting as the chair for the meeting, said: “I think you have spoken for most people in this room.”

The report to council was prepared by the Alcohol and Drug Partnership, and said West Dunbartonshire is disproportionately harder affected because of deprivation.

It stated: “Analysis conducted by the Alcohol and Drug Partnership suggest that specific communities within West Dunbartonshire are disproportionately affected by drug harms and drug deaths. These areas mainly reflect neighbourhoods with high concentrations of multiple deprivation. Areas with higher levels of drug deaths are aligned with high levels of drug harms.”

The partnership has assessed the local need and is now working to address the gaps they found in services, such as for young people and support for residents with multiple and complex needs.

There is also a gap in the provision of family support.

Councillor Lawrence O’Neill said he echoed the comments of Cllr Bollan and others.

“This has been a crisis for probably all of my life,” he said. “Having worked in that field for 20-odd years, every single death is a horror for the family.

“It’s a cataclysmic failure that something needs to be done.

“I sit in despair at this one. As councillors we need to do whatever we can to put as much pressure on those who drive the police to assist this. We are beyond crisis.

“I would hope we can address this as quickly as possible. We need to do something that’s desperately required.”

The partnership agreed to provide more regular updates to the council about its work and progress.