Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, via freedom of information laws, show that ambulance crews administered naloxone – which is used to treat overdoses – in up to 4,172 cases last year.

This compares to up to 3,563 cases in 2024, 4,154 in 2023, and 3,776 in 2022.

Shadow drugs minister Annie Wells said that Scotland’s “shameful” drugs-death rate – the worst in Europe under the SNP – would be even worse without the efforts of our “heroic” ambulance service.

Ms Wells said: “These alarming figures expose the huge toll that Scotland’s drugs crisis is taking on our ambulance service.

“Thankfully Scotland’s over-stretched paramedics are intervening to save lives, but they have been forced to deal with a record number of overdoses thanks to the SNP’s abject failure to tackle the drug trade in Scotland.

She added: “Scotland is the drugs-death capital of Europe and if it wasn’t for our heroic ambulance crews, that shameful and heartbreaking toll would be far higher still.

“If the SNP had their way and decriminalised drugs, the overdose figures would be worse still.”