Deadly deals on streets.

STRONGER heroin deals are being blamed for a steep rise in the number of users dying from overdoses.

Strathclyde police said that the number of victims is almost twice what it was last year.

Figures released yesterday show there have been 82 deaths in Strathclyde alone since the beginning of the year.

That compares with 48 for the same period last year.

A Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency report on March 13 said there was "anecdotal evidence" that super-strength drugs were in use in Glasgow, Tayside and Edinburgh.

Police fear dealers are trying to outdo each other by selling "quality gear".

Sources say a typical pounds 10 heroin deal now contains 125mg of the drug, compared with 100mgin the past.

Detective Superintendent John McSporran, of Strathclyde Police, confirmed yesterday that high purity deals were circulating.

He said: "I would urge people who insist on taking illegal drugs to take the precautions to make sure they are safe, such as making sure they are not alone when using heroin.

"There is also a need to reinforce the message that taking any type of illegal drugs is inherently dangerous."

Anti-drugs campaigners have called for those peddling killer deals to be charged with culpable homicide.

Gaille McCann, founder of Mothers Against Drugs Cranhill, said: "Dealers don't care about human life - all they are interested in is money.

"At the moment our judicial system is not acting as a deterrent - drug dealers just laugh at it."

Professor Neil McKeganey, of Glasgow University Drug Misuse Research Centre, blamed an "injecting culture" for the deaths.

He said: "As long as we have big numbers of injectors in Scotland we will have a high incidence of overdose."