The number of people admitted to hospital for overdosing on heroin or methadone hit a record high last year.
Scottish Government figures show 2,507 people required hospital treatment for overdosing on opioid drugs in 2016, equating to nearly 50 a week, the highest number since records began in 1999.
The number of people taken to hospital for overdosing on heroin, methadone, opium or similar opioid drugs rose by 133 from 2015.
More lives are being saved among those admitted with opioid overdoses, as death rates have dropped from 27 people in 2015 to 24 last year.
Health Secretary Shona Robison disclosed the statistics in response to a Parliamentary question by the Scottish Conservatives.
They follow official figures released last month showing 867 drug deaths in Scotland last year, a 23% increase on the previous year and the worst figure on record.
Opioids were implicated in, or potentially contributed to, 765 (88%) of these deaths.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: "This is the latest set of figures which show the severity of Scotland's drug problem, which is now the worst in Europe.
"The sheer scale of heroin and methadone use is ruining lives left, right and centre.
"We already knew Scotland was experiencing a drugs deaths rate higher than anywhere else. Now we can see the extent of those overdosing on dangerous substances too.
"We need a new strategy urgently to help these vulnerable people beat this lethal habit for good.
"The only crumb of comfort from these statistics is how relatively few deaths occur directly from these overdoses, and we have to thank our hardworking NHS staff for that."
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