Malcolm Graham

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By James CookScotland editor

The UK's first official consumption room for illegal drugs including heroin and cocaine is expected to be approved by authorities in Glasgow later.

The facility is backed by the Scottish Government as a way to tackle the country's drugs deaths crisis.

It would involve users taking their own drugs in a hygienic environment under the supervision of trained health professionals.

A health centre in the East End of The City will be used for a pilot scheme.

The idea has been discussed for years but it is able to go ahead now after Scotland's senior law officer said users would not be prosecuted for possessing illegal drugs while at the facility.

The guidance issued to prosecutors by Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC earlier this month stated that it would to bring proceedings in such cases.

The consumption room plan will be discussed by Glasgow's Integration Joint Board, which brings together NHS and council officials, on Wednesday morning.

A report on the facility prepared by officials from the NHS and Glasgow City Council says it aims to tackle The Problem of " approximately 400 to 500 people injecting drugs in public places in Glasgow City centre on a regular basis".

" I think the case for this is as relevant now as it always was, " said Dr Saket Priyadarshi, Associate Medical Director of Glasgow alcohol and drug recovery services, which would run The Project .

Dr Priyadarshi said evidence from More Than 100 similar facilities around The World suggested they lead to a " significant reduction" in harm as well as helping users to engage with a range of treatment and care programmes.

The Glasgow consumption room would be based at Hunter Street in the East End of The City alongside a clinic where 23 long-term drug users are currently prescribed pharmaceutical heroin.

Jade, 33, a drug user in the East End described it as a " brilliant idea" which would " make a massive, massive difference. "

She told Bbc News that she had used heroin and cocaine to Block Out trauma from her past and had witnessed many loved ones dying as a result of drug addiction.

" My ex-partner died of drugs. My dad died. He was an addict. My Sister Passed Away . A lot of My Friends have Passed Away , " She Said .

The consumption room is part of a wider move by the Scottish Government to tackle a crisis which is claiming more lives per head than Anywhere Else in Europe.

Drugs deaths peaked at 1,339 in 2020 before falling slightly in 2021 And Then dropping by around a fifth in 2022 to 1,051.

Since then preliminary figures suggest they have begun to creep up again.

'No single answer'

The consumption room plan is supported by Scottish National Party , Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians but the UK Home Office insists " there is no safe way to take illegal drugs".

That position is shared by Annemarie Ward, chief executive of The Charity Faces and Voices of Recovery UK, which helped draft the by the Scottish Conservatives.

Ms Ward said the SNP was playing politics by calling for Westminster to amend the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act to decriminalise possession of drugs, a move rejected by the UK government.

Instead, She Said , the Scottish Government should be focusing not just on harm reduction but also on treatment, prevention, dissuasion and reintegration of users into society.

" They are stoking a constitutional debate about independence, unfortunately, and that's at the cost of people's lives, " She Said .

SNP ministers deny that is the case.

Last week Elena Whitham, minister for drugs and alcohol policy, told the Scottish Parliament " The War on drugs is over. No One won and the main casualties were not organised criminals but the poorest and most vulnerable. "

" We know that Scotland as a nation needs to Do Something different and, within the confines of The Law , Police Scotland is going to be a part of that, working in partnership, " said Dep Ch Con Malcolm Graham , head of local policing at Police Scotland .

He insisted The Force would continue to Crack Down on drug dealers but added that supply was only part of The Problem .

" We need to tackle the demand and we also need to tackle the harm, " said Mr Graham, adding: " There is no single answer to this problem that our nation faces. "

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Source of news: bbc.com