More than a third of Scots who died from drug-related deaths in 2009 had not received any treatment for their addiction, according to a new report.

The report, which analysed 432 deaths from overdoses, revealed 172 of those users had had no contact with treatment services during their lives. The majority of those who died were male, white and from a deprived area.

Most had been drug users for at least five years, with heroin the most widely used substance.

The deaths were studied in a report by the National Drug Related Death Database (NDRDD).

The report was undertaken in addition to national reporting of drug-related deaths published in August by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), which recorded 545 drug-related deaths in 2009, a decrease from the peak of 574 in 2008.

The NDRDD study excluded deaths which GROS recorded as confirmed suicides.

Speaking during a visit to an Alcohol and Drugs Partnership in Fife, Fergus Ewing, minister for community safety, said: "This report makes very difficult and distressing reading.

"Earlier intervention through treatment may have been able to steer these people away from addiction and into recovery.

"This Government recognises the importance of people with drug problems being able to access the right treatment and support, at the right time.

"The Scottish Government believes that our national drugs strategy, the Road to Recovery, will make the difference.

"Every death from drugs in Scotland is a tragedy. However, we cannot turn the clock back. Everyone with an interest in fighting drug misuse - this Government, frontline addiction workers, GPs, social workers and others - can learn something from this report today and its findings can help all of us, not least vulnerable members of society currently experiencing a drug misuse problem who we can still pull back from the brink."

Mr Ewing said the Scottish Government was providing £28.6m to health boards for frontline drug services in 2010/11, which represents
an increase of more than 20% since 2006/07. Funding will be maintained at 2010/11 levels in 2011/12, subject to Parliamentary approval.

Dr Roy Robertson, chairman of the National Forum on Drug-Related Deaths, said: "Establishing this national drug-related deaths database is a priority for Scotland because of our particularly worrying drug problem and associated mortality.

"Along with the annual figures from the General Registry Office, this database will provide great detail on the circumstances and possibly precipitating causes of deaths related to drugs in Scotland."

Labour's community safety spokesman, James Kelly MSP, said: "There can be no complacency in tackling drug misuse which continues to blight all too many communities across Scotland.

"More work needs to go into prevention and intervention programmes as well as into a renewed effort on educating young people about the dangers of drugs."

Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Robert Brown MSP said: "These statistics show once again the terrible waste of life caused by hard drugs.

"The figures show a worrying cycle of crime and drug abuse.

"We need to be doing more to help drug addicts in prison and those who are already known to the police.

"We are clearly not picking up over a third of people at risk through drug treatment services. This is a worry worth looking at.

"Drug testing and treatment orders need to be made more widely available to the courts when they are required.

"They are one of the most effective measures for getting convicted addicts off drugs, and if used more widely could cut this terribly high level of drug deaths."