The UK’s first drug consumption room is set to open in Glasgow this year, it has been announced.
The Safer Drugs Consumption Facility will open in the city on Monday, October 21.
Illegal drugs including heroin and cocaine will be consumed within the rooms in a bid to make them safer for users.
Located on Hunter Street Health and Social Care Centre in the East End of the city, the £2.3 million facility is the first of its kind in the UK.
Glasgow City Council’s convenor for Homelessness and Addiction Services announced the opening date in light of Tuesday’s NRS statistics on Scotland’s drug-related deaths in 2023/
He said: “The rise in drug-related deaths last year makes clear we are in a public health emergency and one that requires radical action.
“Glasgow has well-established alcohol and drug recovery services that work effectively with the city’s high number of problem drug users, however people with problematic alcohol and drug use experience significant challenges which puts their health and well-being at considerable risk.
“The opening of the Safer Drug Consumption Facility will help reduce fatal and non-fatal overdoses by providing users with a safe, clean place to inject their own drugs in the presence of trained medical staff. The urgent need for such a facility couldn’t be more important and we are only a matter of weeks away with an estimated opening date of October 21.
“However, it’s still widely recognised that involvement in a treatment programme substantially improves someone’s chances of getting the right support mechanisms in place to help them begin their recovery.
“The range of interventions and services we have in the city are all designed to help those most at risk and address the main harms we are seeing among the most vulnerable drug users.”
This week, statistics for 2023 showed that Scotland’s drug deaths had soared again by 12% in the space of a year after 2022 figures revealed the first drop since 2017.
The news was described as ‘tragic’ by acting Drugs Minister Neil Gray, who also insisted that the Scottish Government’s approach to tackling the crisis was still the correct one.
READ MORE:
- Minister claims Scotland still 'on right course' to tackle drug deaths despite rise
- Scottish drug deaths see significant hike as most deprived areas still most affected
The figures revealed that people living in Scotland’s most deprived areas were 15 times more likely to die from drug misuse, than those who live in the least deprived areas.
A total of 1,172 people died in 2023, up 121 from 2022. Opiates and opioids, including heroin, morphine, and methadone were implicated in 80% of all recorded deaths.
Almost nine out of 10 drug misuse deaths were classified as accidental poisonings, with 7% classed as intentional self-poisonings.
Glasgow and Edinburgh City had the highest number of drug deaths with 246 and 111 respectively.
When NRS records began in 1996 on drug-related deaths, the total number of deaths was 244.
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