There was a significant rise in the amount of people under the influence of drink or drugs seeking ambulance assistance over the festive period in Ayrshire, latest figures have revealed.
Statistics from a Freedom of Information request show a 72 per cent rise in ambulance crews attending to people under the influence of alcohol or drugs in North and South Ayrshire between 1 December and 4 January.
In North Ayrshire emergency crews attended to 110 causalities under the influence in 2015/16 compared to just 69 in 2014/15. In South Ayrshire the figure stood at 78 in 2015/16 compared to only 40 in 2014/15.
The SNP government recently cut direct funding to Addaction Scotland by £15 million. The charity provides vital services to people with substance misuse problems.
And the number of drug-related deaths in Scotland has risen to its highest level since records began with the National Records of Scotland revealing 613 people died as the result of drug in 2014.
There were also 1,152 alcohol-related deaths in Scotland in 2014 and 35,059 alcohol-related hospital stays in 2014/15.
Scottish Conservative west of Scotland list candidate Jamie Greene said “These are worrying figures and show that more needs to be done by the SNP government to address the deeply embedded drink and drugs problem we have in Scotland. Although Christmas and New Year is traditionally a time for people to be merry and enjoy themselves, nobody wants to end up in the back of ambulance. It also puts pressure on hard-working ambulance staff when many incidents involving substances, could have been avoided. Over the years the Scottish Government has reduced the amount of money it gives to drug and alcohol partnerships and this is scandalous. There is simply not enough funding and support coming through from the SNP to stop this epidemic in its tracks and the situation cannot be allowed to get any worse.”