UK Government 'won't change law' for more drug consumption rooms like facility in Glasgow

The UK Government has said it won’t change the law to make it easier to set up safe drug consumption rooms like the one that opened in Glasgow earlier this year – even if it’s a success.

The Thistle facility in Glasgow is the first facility of its kind in the UK, aimed at bringing down Scotland’s high number of drug deaths.

It opened at the start of the year, and Scottish health secretary Neil Gray said initial evidence “suggests the facility is proving successful”.

The facility has been used more than 2,500 times since opening five and a half months ago.

Gray told Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee that the Scottish Ambulance Service has been called to the Hunter Street location seven times since January.

He also said there have been 35 “medical emergencies” at the facility since it opened.

Had those emergencies happened away from the facility, Gray said he believed the people involved in those medical emergencies would not have survived.

However, despite what Gray sees as the Thistle’s evidence of early success, UK Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson said the law will not be changed to make it easier for other facilities like it to be opened.

The Thistle facility was launched in Scotland following a decision by the Crown Office not to prosecute drug users, but there’s uncertainty over its long-term legal status.

The three-year pilot is only possible because the Lord Advocate has said prosecuting drug users who visit the site to inject isn’t in the public interest.

But under Westminster legislation, the facility still officially operates outside the law.

On Wednesday, Scottish MPs were told that isn’t going to change, despite reminding Johnson that it wasn’t always what she believed.

Asked if the Government could rethink that stance if the Thistle proves to be a success in driving down Scotland’s high drug death rates, the minister said: “We look at evidence, we have experts, we have the ACMD (advisory council on the misuse of drugs) who offer advice, we look at evidence all the time.

“But I just really want to be clear with you, we do not support drug consumption facilities, it’s not our policy and we will not be amending the Misuse of Drugs Act.”

Gray emphasised that he believes the Thistle is already saving lives, and the law should change, so other parts of the country can benefit.

The Scottish Affairs Committee will publish its report on the Thistle later this year. MPs were promised that UK ministers will consider it carefully.