Edinburgh identifies two potential sites for new drug consumption room
Scottish Tories warn ‘people in Edinburgh will be horrified’ following complaints about discarded needles outside Glasgow facility
Two sites in Edinburgh’s Old Town have been identified by council officials for the opening of a new drugs consumption room that critics believe would “horrify” locals.
A report released by the city’s Integration Joint Board (IJB) revealed the facility could open on the Cowgate or on Spittal Street.
The board also said it would design a consultation to run in the new year to garner the views of locals on the proposals, which would allow those addicted to intravenous drugs to inject under the supervision of medical professionals.
But the Scottish Conservatives said people in the city will be “horrified” at the prospect, following complaints about discarded needles outside the Thistle Centre, Scotland’s first drug consumption room, which opened in Glasgow earlier this year.
The proposed facility, according to the report, would be located either in the same building as, or very near to, a homeless day centre or services providing treatment for drug addiction.
In the past three years, the IJB said, there had been 36 drug related deaths within a 15-minute walk of Spittal Street and 34 in the same distance from the Cowgate.
It is not yet possible to estimate the cost of the project until a final site is identified.
The consultation, which will likely be held early next year, would inform a business case for the facility to be put to the Scottish Government for final approval.
IJB chief officer Christine Laverty wrote: “Such a public consultation will attract substantial attention and raise both hopes and fears within different communities.”
‘People in Edinburgh will be horrified’
Scottish Conservatives shadow drugs minister Annie Wells MSP said: “After the problems with the SNP’s drug consumption room in Glasgow, people in Edinburgh will be horrified at the thought of one landing on their doorstep.
“The SNP pinned their hopes on state-sponsored drug taking – at huge cost to the taxpayer – yet deaths are still rising, while local residents have been forced to dodge discarded needles outside The Thistle.
“In contrast, our Right to Recovery Bill can be a game-changer by guaranteeing everyone access to life-saving treatment, including residential rehab.
“The SNP government need to finally back the bill instead of continuing to listen to a small clique of publicly-funded groups whose policies have failed to tackle this national emergency.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The UK’s first safer drug consumption facility, The Thistle, has already saved lives through the ability of staff to respond quickly in the event of an overdose.
“We are open to considering well-developed proposals for additional facilities while The Thistle pilot continues to gather robust evidence and Scottish Government officials have been working with Edinburgh ADP colleagues as they consider a potential facility.”
The initial consumption room in Glasgow faced an uphill political struggle over a decade before it was open, with the UK Government refusing to provide a waiver to the Misuse of Drugs Act which would ensure users would not be criminalised.
It was only when Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC said it would not be in the public interest to prosecute service users that the path was cleared for the Thistle to open in January.
As of the end of June, the service had been used 3,554 times to inject by 377 different people and had dealt with 48 different medical emergencies, some of which drugs minister Maree Todd told the PA news agency last month would have resulted in the death of the user had they been unsupervised.
Ahead of a meeting on Wednesday of the Scottish Drugs Forum, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton called for ministersx to take strong action on the growing number of deaths caused by synthetic opioids such as nitazenes, which can be hundreds of times more powerful than heroin.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “These are extremely dangerous drugs: they are cheap, easily purchased online, terrifyingly potent and often used to bulk out other drugs such as heroin.
“Nitazenes and other synthetic opioids are responsible for a growing number of deaths in Scotland, which is why I have repeatedly raised this issue in parliament and joined with campaigners in warning of their harms. We cannot afford to let this emerging threat get out of control.”
He added: “Scotland needs world-leading drug services. If we are to deliver them, the government urgently need to get on the front foot with nitazenes and other synthetic opioids, through enhanced information, detection and treatment.
"The Scottish Government should also move ahead with new drug checking facilities and rolling out a network of safer drug consumption rooms across the country, because help cannot just be limited to Glasgow.”
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