Many of Friday's papers lead with the news Scotland still has the highest drug death rate in Europe. The Scotsman says Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to act faster to tackle Scotland's drug death "shame" after the latest "heart-breaking" figures were published by the National Records for Scotland.
The Herald leads with the new findings which show the number of people who died of drug misuse in Scotland last year dropped to 1,330, the first time the figure has been down in eight years. However, there were just nine fewer deaths than the 1,339 recorded the previous year.
Campaigners have criticised the government over what they say are "empty pledges" to make Scotland's drugs crisis a national priority, according to the Daily Record. Charity group, FavorUK, which protested at Holyrood on Thursday say the government's response has been "abysmal" and "every year we are left with more lost souls and broken families".
The Daily Telegraph reports that Scotland's drugs death rate remains almost five times higher than that of England and Wales, and 3.8 times higher than that of the next worst European nation, Norway.
Scotland's drug death toll has more than doubled, from 614, since Ms Sturgeon became First Minister in 2014, says the Metro, despite a promise she made 18 months ago to make the epidemic her "national mission".
The government has been warned Scotland's national drug deaths emergency could spiral even further out of control as the cost of living crisis hits the most vulnerable, according to The Courier. This comes after the new figures showed people in Scotland's poorest communities were 15 times more likely die to from drugs than those in the wealthiest, with the gap widening over the past two decades.
In Glasgow, the number of deaths increased to a record breaking 311 for the first time, says Glasgow Times. An increase of 20 from the previous year when 291 people died.
The Evening Telegraph reports that despite the death rate in Scotland dropping slightly, Dundee City had the highest drug misuse death rate of all local authority areas, at 45.2 per 100,000 population, followed by Glasgow City at 44.4 then Inverclyde on 35.7.
The Times Scotland leads with the news that the Tavistock clinic providing gender identity services to children and young people is to close. The paper says the clinic in London has been criticised for "rushing teenagers into life-altering treatment". It adds that the decision comes after a report found the clinic was not a "safe or viable long-term option".
British Gas owner Centrica sparked fury on Thursday night after announcing its profits had risen five fold to £1.34billion, says the Scottish Daily Mail. Shell also joined Centrica in reporting bumper profits of £9.4bn in the second quarter, more than double last year's figure of £4.5bn. The profits have been deemed "grotesque" at a time when many households are struggling with fuel poverty.
The Scottish Daily Express reports that Shell plans to hand over £6.4bn to its shareholders while Centrica said t would resume dividend payments to shareholders after suspending it for three years due to the pandemic. Campaigners are now calling for a new energy tax.
The Daily Star takes an even less sympathetic line on the energy firms' profits. Centrica chief executive Chris O'Shea and and Shell counterpart Ben van Beurden are pictured on the front page above the headline: "Money-grabbing scumbags".
Ministers worry they can no longer have frank discussions about policy in case what they say is weaponised in the Tory leadership race, the i reports. The paper says the Cabinet Office is investigating multiple leaks from inside Whitehall that were intended to damage certain candidates who were jostling to become prime minister.
One of Scotland's most senior trade unionists has resigned from Labour and called for his union to disaffiliate from the party, according to the National. This comes after Sir Keir Starmer's sacking of shadow transport minister, Sam Tarry who attended a rail workers' picket line on Wednesday. In a letter to the party, Kevin Lindsay, Scotland organiser for train drivers' union Aslef, said the sacking was "a step too far".
Armed police have "descended" on a street in Edinburgh after a hit-and-run crash left a 24-year-old man with serious injuries, says Edinburgh Evening News. Several police vans, a fire appliance, and an ambulance attended the scene, where a car and a motorcycle collided. Eyewitnesses reported seeing armed officers patrolling a nearby area shortly after the crash.
New NHS patients across Grampian could be waiting into next year to be seen by a dentist, reports The Press and Journal. The paper says only 17 of the 80 dental practices across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire are currently accepting new NHS patients - some with a six-month waiting list. There's also just one practice in Moray with its books open.
The Scottish Sun says that the judge in Rebekah Vardy's libel case against Coleen Rooney has not given either woman advanced notice of the verdict, set to be announced later, "so no-one could be tempted to leak it".
