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‘Striking’ skull of drugs adorns daily’s front page to highlight patch deaths

A “striking” skull made of drugs appeared on a regional daily’s front page in the newspaper’s latest bid to highlight its patch’s drug problem.

The Dundee Evening Telegraph splashed on Monday on the findings of a new report, which revealed one person per week is dying in the city as a result of drug abuse.

Last May, an investigation by the Evening Telegraph found 72 people in Dundee had died from drugs in the previous 12 months.

It’s subsequent ’72 Dead’ splash went on to be shortlisted for Front Page of the Year at the Regional Press Awards, as well as HTFP’s annual best front page prize.

Dundee drug death

Of the newspaper’s latest coverage, editor Dave Lord told HTFP: “Tragically it sometimes feels as if we are writing about drug deaths on a weekly basis in the Evening Telegraph – so it shouldn’t really have been a surprise when a new report revealed Dundee did indeed record a drug death every single week.

“There has been a lot of debate recently about how the problem might be dealt with. We even had a local minister suggesting he would open a safe consumption room in a desperate bid to get problem users off the streets and into some kind of relative safety.

“The figures are stark – and we needed a front page image to match. Using such a striking image certainly caught the attention and has provoked plenty of debate about the appalling scale of drug abuse in Dundee.

“By sparking such lively debate we want to keep the pressure on the authorities to ensure meaningful action is being taken to tackle this scourge on society. Far too many people are being left without much-loved mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters. Only by confronting the issue – however uncomfortable it may be – can we hope to see it addressed.”