Glasgow mum shares fear of losing son to drugs as city plans consumption room

A mum has told how she sleeps with her clothes on at night as she fears for the safety of her son taking drugs.

Marie, who has suffered the death of another child due to drugs, has told of her constant worry and vigilance waiting for bad news at the door.

Speaking from the Govanhill Family Support Group, she shared her story as the city makes plans to introduce a drug consumption room.

Recalling how she received a knock on the door one time and a phone call during a second incident, Marie said: “Worry, worry – that is all you do.”

Describing how she waits for a ‘chap on the door,’ she said: “I go to bed at night with my clothes on as bad news comes during the night.”

Marie said a drug consumption room would be of benefit.

She added that it would “bring a bit of comfort” as “someone would be there to help him”.

The mother’s harrowing testimony was just one example showing the heartbreaking reality of people living with drug addiction and the impact on their families. Their stories were shared in a video by Glasgow’s health and social care partnership.

An aim of the new drug consumption room is to give people a safe supervised place to use drugs at a facility in Hunter Street, with clean equipment, rather than on the streets in filthy conditions.

There are isolated areas near the city centre littered with syringes. There is a danger a person could overdose with no one there to come to their aid or that they could contract blood borne infections due to dirty needles.

Describing what it is like to use drugs outside, a woman in recovery, speaking anonymously, said: “You felt you were dirty. You felt you were a dirty person because you were doing this outside. But the craving and feeling that you needed that drug in your body totally takes over any judgement you might have about feeling ashamed that people might see you.

“You are scurrying around the street like a rat.”

Another drug user in recovery said: “he would never inject somewhere a “child could see him”.

He added: “If there was a safe injecting space for me, aye – you bet I would use it, especially if there is other services there I could tap into.”

Explaining how people are using drugs out of sight, John Campbell, injecting equipment provision manager at the council said: “I think a major selling factor of the new facility is to give someone a real safe, warm, well lit secure environment to prepare and inject their drugs.”

The comments were made in the film presented to last week’s Glasgow City Integration Joint Board giving an insight into drug addiction and the impact the drug consumption room could have on people.

Drug users will be able to bring their own substances for use at the facility, which could open this year, and staff will be able to intervene if there are problems. Other support and services will also be available.

Speaking at the integration joint board, member Chris Sermanni said: “Anything that gives drug users more dignity and able to access services to address their addiction problems is a good thing.”

He said although there may be challenges and it is a “rocky road” introducing the consumption room will be a “positive step”.

The board approved an approach to the Lord Advocate for the formal Statement of Prosecution Policy, to allow the roll out of the safe drug consumption facility so people won’t be charged for possessing substances in the building.