UK’s first drugs consumption room to open in October

The UK’s first official consumption room for illegal drugs including heroin and cocaine will open in Glasgow on 21 October.

The Safer Drugs Consumption Facility on Hunter Street in the city’s east end will accommodate up to 30 service users at a time.

People will be able to consume illegal drugs under the supervision of clinical staff at the facility 365 days a year from 09:00 until 21:00.

The opening date was confirmed as new data from the National Records of Scotland revealed that the number of people who have died due to drug misuse in the country has risen sharply.

Figures for 2023 revealed that 1,172 people died – up 121 on the previous 12 months, which represents a 12% increase.

Allan Casey, Glasgow City Council’s convener for homelessness and addiction services, said the rise makes clear “we are in a public health emergency and one that requires radical action”.

He said the facility would help “reduce fatal and non-fatal overdoses” by providing a safe and clean place to use drugs under the supervision of medical staff.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

The space has booths for up to eight people to safely inject heroin or other drugs at any one time.

A proposal for a room where they can smoke illegal substances was removed from the original plans due to legal issues posed by Scottish anti-smoking legislation as well as technical challenges with ventilation and filtration.

Last year the lord advocate confirmed it would not be in the public interest to prosecute users of drug consumption rooms for simple possession offences.

The facility is part of a wider move by the Scottish government to tackle the drug death crisis which is claiming more lives per head than anywhere else in Europe.

It has agreed to make up to £2.3m a year available for the pilot.