SNP ministers give up on persuading UK Government to allow safe drugs consumption rooms

The Scottish Government has stressed it wants to allow facilities to be set up to allow for safe consumption of drugs in a bid to prevent fatal overdoses.

The easiest route for the proposal to be legally sound would require the UK Government to update the Misuse of Drugs Act, but Conservative ministers have insisted they have no desire to do so.

Labour MSP Paul Sweeney has launched a Member’s Bill on safe consumption rooms, which SNP minister Angela Constance said would be given “a fair and sympathetic hearing”.

Mr Sweeney said: “The minister has said repeatedly that establishing overdose prevention centres in Scotland is a priority and an essential tool to tackle the drug death crisis in our midst.”

But he warned that in a statement to Holyrood on the governance of efforts to tackle drug deaths, there wasn’t “a single mention of the government’s work so far on delivering these overdose prevention centres in Scotland”.

He added: “Why is it being left to opposition members to drive the pace of these reforms when we both agree on the need of this? “When are we likely to see genuine, tangible updates and progress form the Government on delivering overdose prevention sites under its own competence.”

In response, Ms Constance said “there is very strong support” for establishing safe consumption rooms.

She added: “The evidence, in my view, is clear and compelling.

“The only debate now is how they are actually delivered.”

Ms Constance told MSPs that “the Scottish Government is leaving no stone unturned right now to deliver clinically and legally safe consumption facilities within our powers”.

She said: “I will continue to pursue that activity within our own powers.

At the end of the day, I don’t want to be asking the UK Government for permission.

“It’s quite clear to me that they are not going to reform the Misuse of Drugs Act, it is quite clear to me that certainly in the short and medium term, we are not going to come to an agreement with the UK Government over safe consumption facilities.

“The consensus is strong in Scotland. But we are engaged with our partners. We will leave no stone unturned within our own powers and that’s the route I'm following.”

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross will publish the details of his proposed Right to Recovery Bill on Monday which will aim to ensure there is a right to rehabilitation treatment for all those who need it.

He said: “The minister will be aware that 77 per cent of the respondents to the consultation of my bill were in support.

“Can the minister tell us if the SCottish Government will give its support to this bill that has been drafted by front-line experts and those with lived experience who know what’s needed to tackle Scotland’s drug deaths?”

Ms Constance said that when the details are published next week, the proposals “will absolutely be given a fair and sympathetic hearing”. She added: “I know there are a range of views expressed on the bill.

“I’m not going to jump in and either give a blank cheque, a rosy endorsement or indeed an unfair criticism to something I’ve not seen.

“I do look forward to seeing the detail. I have met Mr Ross in the past to discuss this and to candidly discuss some of the issues that I would hope to see reflected in the bill if he brings it forward.”

But Mr Ross has called on the Scottish Government to "get off the fence" and back their proposals.

He said: “More than three-quarters of those who responded to the proposals in the consultation period were supportive of the bill – and that’s because it’s common-sense legislation drawn up in consultation with people who are experts in this area.

“It’s disingenuous of ministers to keep saying they will wait to see what’s in the bill before deciding whether to back it or not. The details of it are common knowledge and if all the stakeholders who responded understand what’s in it, it’s surely not beyond the wit of the SNP Government to have formed an opinion."

Mr Ross added: “Scotland’s drugs death figures are a national tragedy. They shame Nicola Sturgeon - who has presided over its inexorable rise. There is no further time to lose, so I can’t understand why the SNP won’t get behind this legislation, so that we can get it on the statute book.

“Right to Recovery would enshrine in law the right of everyone to receive the life-saving treatment they need – including, where appropriate, residential rehab.”