Comment on drugs safe consumption

Comment on drugs safe consumption

The College welcomes steps towards the development of a new proposal on how a safer drug consumption facility might work within existing legislation.

Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership has now provided the details of a new service proposal in relation to a potential safer drug consumption facility.

The Scottish Government, working closely with Police Scotland and the Crown Office, and in line with the recent statement from the Lord Advocate, is examining this proposal to consider how any such facility would operate and be policed.

Once this work is completed, a final proposal will be put to the Lord Advocate for consideration.

In a report published in 2021, the College supported calls for safe consumption facilities in Scotland and the UK. The report can be read here.

Commenting, Professor Angela Thomas OBE, Director of Heritage and Libraries at the College said:

Drug-related harms continue to be a major public health issue in Scotland and the College is committed to working with stakeholders who are concerned to resolve this.

We welcome steps taken by the Scottish Government and Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership to propose a new service for safer consumption – which must be rolled out to other parts of Scotland if successful.

The College has called for a range of action on drug deaths – including safe consumption facilities, consideration of decriminalisation of possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use, and the rollout of a heroin-assisted treatment programme across Scotland.

We are pleased with the progress being made towards those objectives, although we note that there is a long way yet to go until the drug deaths crisis can be considered under control.