Issues near drug consumption room 'already there' before opening, says minister

Scotland’s drugs minister has said there is no evidence to support claims that a safe consumption facility in Glasgow has caused an increase in crime.

Maree Todd said she has listened to community concerns over public injecting and drug paraphernalia on the streets near the UK’s first drug consumption room, but insisted that the “challenges were there anyway”.

The minister visited The Thistle in Glasgow on Thursday alongside international visitors from the Global Commission on Drug Policy.

The facility, which opened at the start of the year, is aimed at bringing down Scotland’s high number of drug deaths.

Todd said it is too early to gauge the facility’s success, but said initial evidence suggests that it is proving successful.

As of June, the facility had been used more than 2,500 times since opening.

Todd said there has been a total of 39 medical emergencies on site, with possible fatalities averted.

“Anecdotally, I think we’re hearing some pretty solid evidence of harm avoidance,” Todd said.

“For example, I was told about one month, where over the course of a few days, there was a particular cluster of very serious, very life-threatening overdoses experienced in this facility.

“Those deaths were avoided in this facility. That [cluster] was related to a contaminated drug supply, and where those drugs were used outside this facility, that did result in death.”

However, the facility has faced its fair share of criticism from local residents who say their streets have been littered with waste in the months since the consumption room opened.

They say there has been an increase in public injecting, discarding of drug paraphernalia, and anti-social behaviour in the Calton area since January.

“I don’t want to sound cloth-eared, I absolutely understand the concerns that are being articulated by the community,” Todd said.

“But I think it’s really important to understand that those challenges did not arrive with this facility.

“There were concerns about street use in this area anyway. There were also risks from paraphernalia in this area.

“We will look carefully at whether that has decreased or increased since the facility opened.”

Glasgow SNP Councillor Allan Casey echoed Todd’s remarks.

“I think it’s made a good start. Obviously, we’ve still got a long way to go in the trial period, but signs are showing that the service is working, and that people are using it, which is great,” Casey said.

Speaking to frustrated and concerned local residents, Casey said: “I’ve been angry for many, many years about the situation that’s been happening in terms of public injecting.

“We’ve been angry for many years, and that was partly the reason why we were campaigning to open The Thistle.

“The Thistle is not the problem, it’s the answer for the problem, but it needs time to bed in.”

He added: “I really am hopeful and confident that as The Thistle progresses, the community will start to see a difference in that, but we must listen to them at the same time. We can’t ignore the concerns that have been raised.”