Drug deaths: UK Government minister reiterates opposition to safe drug consumption rooms

Drug consumption rooms will not be backed by the UK Government despite evidence it could help reduce drug deaths, a minister has told a committee of MSPs.

Policing minister Kit Malthouse, speaking to a joint meeting of the health and social care and criminal justice committees in Holyrood on Tuesday, said he was not yet convinced of the efficacy of safe drug consumption rooms in helping tackle drug deaths and overdoses.

His comments come as Scottish politicians grapple with the challenge of tackling the country’s record drug death tally, which has continued to rise year-on-year, with 1,339 people dying in 2020.

Minister for Crime and Policing Kit Malthouse has said he does not back the use of safe drug consumption rooms.

Safe consumption rooms, where people struggling with addiction would be able to take drugs under the supervision of medical professionals, are viewed by some activists as a key way to tackle drug overdose deaths.

However, Mr Malthouse said a wider, health-led approach to drug consumption was required, which included crackdowns on drug taking by police.

He said evidence was not clearly in favour of safe consumption rooms and that government had to be careful about not suggesting it is safe to take any type of illegal drug.

Asked if he viewed the issue of drug deaths as a criminal justice or health issue, the minister answered that it is “both”.

He said: “My view is that those therapeutic and assistance medical intervention are fighting for those individuals with one hand behind their back if you are doing nothing or very little about supply.

"Restricting supply through the smart use of policing I think is critical to success.

"It was critical to success in the early days of Glasgow’s fight against knife crime and I think it will critical to success on drugs.”

Mr Malthouse also denied underlying issues with poverty and deprivation were the main drivers of inappropriate drug use and drug deaths.

He told MSPs: “I think that drugs and violence drive poverty, not that poverty drives those two.

"There are lots and lots of people who live in deprived areas who do not take drugs and are not violent and yet the drugs in their area and the violence drives them or holds them back.

"If you can remove the drugs and remove the violence, generally communities and neighbourhoods fly.”

Want to hear more from The Scotsman's politics team? Check out the latest episode of our political podcast, The Steamie.

It's available wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.