Scotland's first drug-checking service in Glasgow delayed due to 'complexities'

Plans to open Scotland’s first drug-checking service have been delayed due to operational and technical “complexities”.

The service was due to open on Monday, October 5 on Hunter Street in Glasgow, where Scotland’s first drugs consumption room opened last year.

The announcement was made as new figures showed Scotland has the worst rate of drug deaths in Europe.

Drugs minister Maree Todd announced plans to open the service last month, which allows people to submit drugs for rapid checking and to receive harm reduction advice.

It comes as more potent synthetic opioids, such as nitazenes, have been implicated in 247 drug deaths last year.

Public Health Scotland said last year different types had been detected, with some “hundreds of times” stronger than heroin.

There are plans to open similar services in Aberdeen and Dundee, with a fourth facility in Edinburgh currently preparing its licence application to the Home Office.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership said the opening has been postponed, but said operators are “close” to getting the service up and running.

A HSCP spokesperson said: “We are close to opening Scotland’s first local drug-checking service and like any pioneering pilot project, there are a number of operational and technical complexities to work through.

“Due to these complexities, the opening is postponed. Partners continue to work at pace to ensure the service can open as soon as possible.”