'Opening a place where people can go and inject drugs will make things worse'

Glasgow’s historic Trongate is a street of contrasts, where new developments and neglected areas coexist, and homelessness and hotels sit side by side. Drug use is rampant.

Efforts are ongoing to tackle Scotland’s growing drug crisis, including the opening of the UK’s first safe consumption space, The Thistle, in the city’s east end.

Run by Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership, the facility is projected to cost £2.3m a year.

Campaigners say the facility could be “life-changing” in tackling the drug death toll in Scotland – but for many, it’s money that could be better spent on rehabilitation programmes.

Drug user Jim doesn’t think the safe consumption room is a route out of addiction.

Reporter Olly Dickinson (left) and Jim (right) has battled drug addiction for six years STV News

“You’re encouraging people to take drugs. you’re not helping people to come off them,” he told STV News.

“You’re opening a place where they can go in and inject, and people are quite happy with that. I don’t agree with that. I think it’s just going to make things worse.

“I’d like to see more people getting into rehabilitation but you need to be in the right frame of mind, right place.

“If you’re not, it’s not going to work. Wait til you’re ready then go.”

Jim has struggled with his addiction for six years, starting with heroin and is now injecting cocaine.

“I had my first overdose [in 2024],” he said.

A poster inside the NHS Enhanced Drug Treatment Facility at Hunter Street Health Centre. Getty Images

“I’ve had four this year – after nearly six years of me being in the streets.

“Valium was a big thing, but now it seems to be cocaine. Everybody is chasing it.

“But with the amount of drugs going around at the moment, you don’t know what’s in them, you don’t know what you’re taking.

“A lot of people are getting bad abscesses and blood clots in their legs. You’re ruining your body, you don’t know what it’s doing to your insides.

“I’m not enjoying it anymore. I’ve got two really bad abscesses in my legs from taking it. It’s sore. It’s not worth it.”

In Glasgow's historic Trongate, drug use is rampant. — In Glasgow’s historic Trongate, drug use is rampant. STV News

Jim’s story is all too familiar for Street Connect and their volunteers, like Scott Wilson.

He said he spent most of his life in “self-destruct mode” before seeking help with Street Connect in Paisley in autumn 2023.

“Most of my life has been given up to addiction, given up to prison, in and out of trouble, broken relationships,” he said.

“The progress happened where I was able to go to rehab and get better – physically, mentally, and spiritually.

“Now, I’m in a position to go out and serve, helping others who are suffering from the same problems I had in life.”

Scott’s routine patrols mean he knows the people living on the streets and works with them to address addiction, homelessness, and mental health issues.

“We’re trying to meet people where they’re at – people suffering from drug addiction, associated mental health conditions and homelessness. [We want to] offer them a bit of hope that their life doesn’t have to be like that.

“It’s hugely important. A lot of these guys might not have a positive conversation all day, but if we can have one positive conversation, offer them that hope that their life can change, then for me that’s a good day’s work.”

“The reality is, if people could stop using drugs on their own strength, then we wouldn’t have this epidemic. It has a grip on you.”

He added: “When I was in that situation, I didn’t see the bigger picture. It’s not until I’ve sobered up and free from addiction, that I can see it’s a major crisis.”

The idea for a safe injection facility was first proposed in Scotland after the 2014 HIV spike among users sharing needles.

Since then, more than 8,000 people have died due to drug-related causes in Scotland.

Ann-Marie Ward is chief of charity Faces And Voices Of Recovery UK (FAVOR UK).

She also believes rehabilitation programmes should be prioritised to help tackle drug use.

She said: “If we’re spending the majority of our treatment budget on these services that supposedly make it safer for people to use drugs, but not investing in services that help people get off drugs, we’re just going to get more people using and fewer people getting clean.

“I don’t think we’ll see any real dent in drug deaths. Most people who are dying use in their own home. They won’t travel to use this facility.

“They claim this is progressive, innovative and compassionate. To stand by and watch someone deliberately harm themselves in this manner is deeply undignified.

“It’s a devastating indictment of a city and a country that have given up on trying to help people. It’s an admission of failure.”

Councillor Allan Casey, City Convener for Workforce, Homelessness and Addiction Services, said: “We have been pushing for a safer drug consumption facility for some time. We know from other safer drug consumption rooms in operation across the world that they do make a difference – they do improve the lives of people struggling with addiction, as well as easing pressure on frontline emergency services.

“We know this is not a silver bullet – but having a facility that is safe, hygienic and medically supervised will go a long way towards reducing drug-related overdoses, injection-related wounds and infections, and the negative impact that injecting outdoors has on local residents, communities and businesses. We know there are mixed views about having a SDCF, but I am confident we will see the benefits very quickly.”