Scottish drugs deaths conference calls on UK Government to back consumption rooms

Politicians and public health experts have made a fresh plea to the UK Government to allow a drugs consumption room (DCR) to be opened in Glasgow, as the scale of the drugs death crisis in Scotland was spelled out at a summit on the issue.

The Scottish Government-backed conference took place the day the UK Government hosts its own event on the same issue. Picture: John Devlin

The event, co-organised by Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government, heard from more than a dozen speakers on what needs to be done to reverse the spiralling number of Scots who are dying each year from a range of proscribed substances.

The summit was held in the Scottish Exhibition Centre - the same venue the UK Government will host its conference on drugs deaths on Thursday.

Scotland’s largest city has an estimated 11,900 problem drug users living in its boundaries, with around 500 of them regularly injecting themselves in public areas around Glasgow Central railway station.

Around a third of all drugs deaths in Scotland take place in the city, with HIV infection rates rocketing in recent years as addicts increasingly share needles.

Health experts said that unlike elsewhere in Europe, those who died from drugs north of the Border were likely to have taken a range of substances - the average in recent years has risen to six.

SNP ministers and local health authorities have been left frustrated at the failure to establish a DCR in the city, which they believe would help reduce the growing number of heroin addicts who contract HIV from the shared use of needles.

Councillor Mhairi Hunter said Glasgow was “ready and willing” to open a DCR with the backing of its local health partnership.

“I don’t think any city has been more ready than Glasgow is,” she said.

“We have political consensus across the council - most of our elected representatives, officials, and the health and social care partnership.

“We have a huge amount of support from the public for taking this approach.

“We are ready, we are willing, and all we need is the go ahead.”

Drug laws are reserved to Westminster and successive UK Governments have ruled out the opening of a DCR in Glasgow, which would be illegal under current legislation.

The Scottish Conservatives have called for Holyrood to invest more money in rehabilitation services instead.

Public health minister Joe FitzPatrick said he was ready to work with the UK Government to tackle the drugs death crisis.

“The problem we are here to discuss is as brutal as it is simple,” he said.

“Friends, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers are all dying. The solutions may be complex but they must be found, otherwise this senseless damage will continue.

“My view, and the view of the Scottish Government, is that we must address drug use in a way that is public health-led, rather than as a justice issue.

“This is not a view that is universally held. But it is one that has show real benefits around the world.

“It is no secret that I don’t always see eye-to-eye with the UK Government but it does not matter. What matters is saving lives and I will work with anyone who to achieve that.”

A spokeswoman for the Home Office said it had no plans to allow a DCR in Glasgow. It said a “range of offences” would be committed under current laws if such a service was set up.

They added: “The UK Government has no plans to introduce drug consumption rooms in the UK. Illegal drugs devastate lives and communities, and dealers should face the full consequences of the law.

“We have organised a UK-wide drugs summit in Glasgow tomorrow which will bring together drug recovery experts, health professionals, government ministers and senior police officers to discuss how we can most effectively prevent the health-related harms of drug misuse.”