Safer Drug Consumption Rooms are a no-brainer for a country with the worst death rate in Europe, says Record journalist Mark McGivern
Drug campaigners have hailed the Daily Record after Scotland's Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain agreed to green light Safer Drug Consumption Facilities following our campaign.The strident call was prompted by the fact our drug deaths were, at that time, the worst in the entire world.
It has taken the Lord Advocate a long time to make this statement but I do think that it signals real action. Glasgow has an identified site and I would imagine that the facilities could be set up reasonably quickly now the legal barriers have been lifted. He said: “It has taken the Lord Advocate a long time to make this statement but I do think that it signals real action.
The Record’s Mark McGivern travelled to Portugal and Spain to witness harm reduction measures that were embedded in their cities. It seemed clear to us that any Safer Drug Consumption Facility would only attract people who would be taking drugs in any case. Campaigners claimed a major victory after Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain’s statement on Safer Drug Consumption Facilities was greeted by calls for rapid action, led by First Minister Humza Yousaf.
She released a statement yesterday that made clear it would “not be in the public interest” to prosecute people in a safe drugs consumption room with possession of illegal substances. In her statement, the Lord Advocate says: “On the basis of the information I have been provided, I would be prepared to publish a prosecution policy that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute drug users for simple possession offences committed within a pilot Safer Drugs Consumption Facility.”
The Scottish Government has repeatedly called for Holyrood to be given the powers to set up a pilot project as part of its efforts to tackle drugs deaths north of the border, where the rate is the highest in Europe. Martin Powell, Head of Partnerships, Transform Drug Policy Foundation said: “The spotlight now falls on the UK Government to finally accept the calls from innumerable expert and cross-party party bodies to allow the opening of these facilities in every area that needs one.”
He said: “It is important to note that existing legislation will not be changing and, while we may take an overall supportive policing approach, police officers will still be bound by their legal duty to uphold the law and will not be able to simply ignore acts of criminality which they see occurring.”