UK’s first drug consumption room to open later this month
The facility in Glasgow will allow users to take illegal substances under medical supervision.
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Your support makes all the difference.The first safe drug consumption room in the UK will open in Glasgow on January 13, the council has confirmed.
The facility will allow drug users to take illegal substances under medical supervision with the hopes they will seek further support to tackle their addiction.
It was hoped the facility could open last year, but final checks to the water and ventilation systems pushed its opening back.
Located on Hunter Street in the city’s east end, the facility – known as the Thistle – will operate between 9am and 9pm, 365 days a year.
Councillor Allan Casey, convener for addiction services at Glasgow City Council, said: “We are obviously delighted that the required tests have now concluded and the facility can open on Monday January 13.
We know from all the other safer drug consumption rooms in operation across the world that they do make a difference
“We have been pushing for a safer drug consumption facility for some time.
“It’s a welcome relief to know we can finally have people in to access the service and support available within the Thistle.
“We know from all the other safer drug consumption rooms in operation across the world that they do make a difference.”
While the idea of a drugs consumption room was first proposed in 2016 following an HIV outbreak in the city, its development was embroiled in years of political wrangling between the Scottish and UK governments.
But in 2023, Scotland’s Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC announced it would not be “in the public interest” to prosecute people using such a facility.
The pilot project is in the same building as a current drug treatment facility and was approved by the Glasgow City Integration Joint Board in September 2023.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “I welcome the opening of the UK’s first Safer Drug Consumption facility which the Scottish Government is providing £2.3 million for, as evidence from over 100 facilities worldwide tells us it will save lives.
“The facility forms part of our five-year, £250 million National Mission to address the drugs deaths emergency, which includes a range of other actions such as a target of 1,000 funded residential rehabilitation places, working towards the establishment of drug-checking facilities and widening access to life-saving naloxone.”