evidence: This scoping review found an increased risk of drug-related death after release from prison, particularly during the first two weeks after release, though drug-related mortality risk remained elevated for the first year among former prisoners. Evidence synthesis was limited as only a small number of studies were suitable for pooled analyses for SMRs due to inconsistencies in study design and methodology. [...] Furthermore, similar to our findings, where the drug-related death risk was highest in the first two weeks after release; a meta-analysis of mortality during the 12 weeks after prison release reported an increased risk of drug-related mortality during the first 2 weeks after prison release compared to the subsequent 10 weeks (however, the mortality risk was elevated during the first 4 weeks) [7]. [...] This scoping review found an increased risk of drug-related death after release from prison, particularly in the first two weeks after release, although the drug-related mortality risk remained elevated for the first year among former prisoners. Our results are of concern as we show that post-release mortality risk is still high despite similar findings having been reported in the literature more than a decade ago. This scoping review has detailed examples of differences in study design and methodology in included studies which has significantly limited evidence synthesis. This review suggests a need for a more consistent methodology and rigorous reporting of observational studies about mortality among former prisoners.