Britain opens its first safe drug consumption area amid rising deaths

The first official facility for consuming illegal drugs will open in Glasgow within a month, a move that experts and campaigners hope will bring about major changes in drug policy.

The groundbreaking ‘safer drug consumption facility’, called the Thistle, was due to open earlier this year on Hunter Street, on the city’s east side, but was delayed by construction tests.

It was made possible after Scotland’s Lord Advocate said it would not be in the public interest to prosecute anyone who uses it.

Plans for a facility in Glasgow were first proposed a decade ago in response to an HIV outbreak among people who inject drugs, but were repeatedly blocked by the Home Office under the Conservatives, who said such a service would conflict with the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

But Glasgow Labor and Cooperative MSP Paul Sweeney, who has volunteered with a safe consumption van in the city designed to test the legal framework, told the Observer he had had encouraging conversations with the British Crime and Policing Secretary, Diana Johnson. He said she is “open-minded and supportive, and is interested in looking at the evidence from Glasgow to inform the Home Office’s approach”.

A government spokesperson said: “Every death resulting from drug abuse is a tragedy for those who have lost their lives, their families and for the wider community. While we have no plans to change the UK’s drug laws, through our mission-driven government we will take preventative public health action to tackle society’s biggest killers – including drug abuse – and support people to live longer, healthier lives.”

Niamh Eastwood, executive director of drug charity Release UK, said it was “shameful that these facilities are not being opened across Britain”. “The UK Government must take action to enable the establishment of drug rooms across the UK. In the meantime, local areas can respond to this crisis by seeking permission from police to allow these sites to operate.” she added.

The Thistle will allow people to inject illegal drugs purchased elsewhere in a sanitary, controlled environment where trained professionals can respond to injuries and overdoses, as well as provide comprehensive care and signposting to other services. It will be open 365 days a year, from 9am to 9pm, and is close to a number of well-known public injection sites.

There are more than 100 safe consumption facilities around the world and none have ever recorded a death.

“The logic is very simple: injecting in public is dangerous because it is extremely unhygienic and can lead to infection and injury, and in some cases death,” said Andrew McAuley, professor of public health at Glasgow Caledonian University and NHS consultant in Glasgow. Common injection sites in central Glasgow include alleyways, car parks and waste containers, which are often dark, isolated and dirty, he said.

“There is also the environmental risk of discarded drug-related litter, such as needles and syringes, in places where people work and live,” McAuley said. “Having a room effectively moves these dangers from the street to a controlled, clean and safe environment for everyone.”

The Thistle opens amid what is being called a drug deaths emergency in Scotland, with Glasgow being dubbed the European drug death capital. Figures show that 1,172 people died in 2023, almost a quarter of which in Glasgow.

But those involved insist that the Thistle is designed to meet the needs of a specific community – people, many of whom are homeless, who inject publicly in the city center – and that other interventions are needed to reduce drug death rates push.

“This service will hopefully be very effective… but it is not a silver bullet,” said Saket Priyadarshi, associate medical director for drug and alcohol recovery services at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. “We do not rely on one intervention, but on a whole package of treatment and care.”

This includes crisis services, residential rehabilitation and a national program to distribute naloxone, which is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, he said.

Other British cities have shown interest in the thistle, Priyadarshi added.

“Britain had a fantastic reputation for harm reduction and drug treatment for a while, but in recent years we have undoubtedly lagged behind.

“It is very exciting to be opening Britain’s first drug consumption facility, but it is tempered by the realization that we are probably significantly late compared to other places. It’s a shame it took us so long to get here,” he said.