AN ESTIMATED 2900 people in Fife are problem drug users.
The figures examined by members of the Health and Social Care Integration Joint Board on Friday revealed that the number of drug related deaths rose to 81 in 2019 compared to 64 the previous year.
The Scottish Health Survey data also reported that 84 per cent of adults in Fife report drinking alcohol, with approximately 71,000 adults in Fife consuming in excess of the recommended safe amount of 14 units per week.
From 2015 to 2019, alcohol specific deaths in Fife were 17.2 per 100,000 of the population – lower than the Scottish average of 20.6 per 100,000.
Fife was one of only two health board in Scotland to see an increase in the alcohol mortality rate in 2019 when the total was 70 deaths compared to 59 deaths in 2018.