Can the UK's first drug consumption room reduce Scotland's high rate of drug-related deaths?

Those attending the drug consumption room, called The Thistle, will be able to access clean needles and inject with NHS staff on hand, ITV News Correspondent Peter Smith reports

Scotland is now four years into what then-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called a drug deaths public health emergency.

Almost 5,000 people have died in that time.

The annual figure just increased again, and Glasgow saw the sharpest increase, with 25% more deaths due to drugs.

In fact, Glasgow is the drug death capital of Europe.

But the city is about to experiment with one possible answer.

On Monday, a drug consumption room will be opened - the first place in the UK where people will not only be allowed but actively encouraged, to take their drugs without fear of arrest.

Buying, selling, and possessing drugs is still going to be illegal in Scotland.

But as of next week, all users in Glasgow will get a free pass as long as they’re taking their drugs inside the clinic at The Thistle.

They will be able to access clean needles and inject with NHS staff on hand to respond to any overdoses.

It is also about engagement with those who are often at the fringes of society: hidden away, injecting in alleyways and the backstairs of public car parks.

Many are homeless, struggling with mental health issues and self-medicating.

They are not easy to reach and some have had little, if any, contact with health professionals, such as dentists or a GP, which leads to other health complications in their lives.

These kinds of drug consumption rooms are already operational in Canada, Australia, and across Europe.

We’ve seen the impact for ourselves at this clinic in Denmark.

Since it opened more than a decade ago, needle sharing was almost eradicated, and the Danish HIV rate plummeted to one of the lowest in the world.

Contrast that with the picture in Glasgow city centre - where there’s been an HIV outbreak among drug users, and used needles are being discarded in public places.

However, part of the effectiveness in other countries is the entire holistic package.

If someone is in need of mental health support, it can be arranged.

In Scotland, if they are identified as needing mental health support, there is a lengthy waiting list for access.

The same goes for access to rehabilitation beds for anyone trying to come off drugs: Scotland just doesn’t have enough.

If the Scottish government is unable to join those dots through this service, it becomes little more than a place to keep people addicted to drugs alive but without much hope of ever knowing a better life.

Right outside where The Thistle will open, we meet Billy.

He is 42 years old, has been using drugs since he was eight, and is now in a wheelchair having lost his leg from injecting into a wound.

He ought to be the exact demographic the drug consumption room would be expected to target, but the location of the clinic at the edge of Glasgow city centre is a problem for him.

“I can’t see myself personally going in there, no,” he said.

“You want to take your drugs as soon as you get them. That’s what I’m saying. You won’t come all the way up here once you’ve scored in the city centre, and want to use in the consumption room.”

This initial scepticism in Scotland will be a challenge, but drug consumption rooms are already effective around the world.

Until now, though, drug consumption rooms have been blocked from opening in the UK by Westminster.

The relevant legislation - the Misuse of Drugs Act - is not devolved, but the Scottish government fought hard to get this pioneering clinic open, and they believe it will make a difference in drug-related deaths and harm.

But even when it opens, there are still legal contradictions and complications.

Anyone taking drugs inside The Thistle has effectively been given immunity from prosecution for drug possession.

However, in order to obtain drugs, they have to buy them. But buying drugs from dealers is illegal. And even then being in possession of drugs to carry them to the clinic will still be illegal.

These are issues that need to be ironed out, and there is an understanding Police Scotland will have a "common sense approach" to people using the clinic.

However, there is a risk to the local community that this clinic could create an isolated drug ghetto within Glasgow.

Police cannot ignore open drug deals if pushers start hanging around outside the service targeting people going in and coming out. But if there is any kind of police presence, that could deter people from using the service at all.

It is just a three-year pilot, for now.

In that time, all eyes will be on Glasgow to see what difference it makes to the drug deaths and the lives of the most at-risk people like Billy.

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