Drug use and alcohol - factor 4 in heath inequality

FACTOR 4: ALCOHOL & DRUG USE

Alcohol use causes health inequalities:

The more someone drinks the more likely they are to suffer from poor health. Excessive consumption of alcohol leads to ill health with increased likelihood of illnesses such as cirrhosis of the liver and high blood pressure. It has also been shown to cause cancer, fertility problems and damage the immune system.

On average, 86 hospital admissions a day in Scotland in 2019/20 were due to illnesses wholly caused by alcohol.

Levels of binge drinking in Scotland are much higher than in less affluent groups. Alcohol–related mortality rates for those living in the most deprived areas are six times the rate for those in the least deprived areas where consumption is less.

For UK men, analysis has shown that workers in routine and manual jobs have an alcohol-related death rate 3.5 times greater than those in the highest occupational positions (for women it is 5.7 times greater!).

Drug use causes health inequalities:

Short-term effects of drug use can range from changes in appetite, wakefulness, heart rate, blood pressure, and/or mood, to heart attack, stroke, psychosis, overdose, and even death. These health effects may occur after just one use. Longer-term effects can include heart or lung disease, cancer, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and others, as well as the creation of a drug addiction.

Scotland has one of the highest drug death rates in the developed world, with 1,330 drug misuse deaths in 2021. That is over 4 times more than in 2000. Things have improved, but there were still over 1,000 drug misuse deaths in Scotland in 2024.

People living in more deprived areas and with lower individual resources and socio-economic classes are at greater risk of harm from drug use. The highest levels of alcohol and drug-related deaths in the UK occur in those areas of greatest neighbourhood deprivation.

As of 2025, in England and Wales approximately 14% of people in households with an income lower than £10,000 are estimated to use illegal drugs, compared to less than 10% for all other income levels.