‘No reason’ why other drug consumption facilities could not go ahead

Scotland’s most senior prosecutor says she has not received any other proposals to set up safer drugs consumption rooms – but said there was “no reason” why similar projects could not go ahead.

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC said the Thistle centre in Glasgow, where drug users can take illegal substances with trained medical staff on hand to deal with emergencies, has been set up in the wake of a “crisis in Scotland” with regards to drugs deaths.

The centre, which is a three-year pilot project, opened in January this year after the Lord Advocate issued a statement making clear it would not be in the public interest to prosecute those using the centre for possession of drugs.

And she suggested to MPs on the Scottish Affairs Committee this stance could also be applied in other areas if this was “underpinned by the very strong evidence base” there was in Glasgow.

Her comments came as she told the committee it was not for her to determine what the criteria should be for judging if the Thistle is a success or not.

Ms Bain said: “I think I would have to be guided by the experts in public health as to whether or not they considered it to be a success.

“I am not a doctor, I am not an expert on drug use, or drug disease. What I would do is take into account what the experts were reporting about the impact of the facility.”

She added that there would be a “rigorous evaluation” of the Thistle centre – which is the first such facility of its kind in the UK.

But on the question of whether it could be continued beyond the three-year, pilot period, she said that if the situation remained “compelling, as it is at the moment” then this could be considered.

Ms Bain was also asked by committee chair Patricia Ferguson if she would consider similar requests for such facilities to be set up by other local authorities – with the Lord Advocate saying: “Any other proposal of the type we got in this case would be considered in the same way.

”However, she said: “I haven’t received any other proposals.”

The Lord Advocate told the MPs that the statement of prosecution policy for the Thistle had been made “on the basis of expert, factual evidence and statistical features of drug deaths in Scotland”.

She added that the area where the centre is based is one where there were “particular issues around open drug use”, adding that this had an impact on both the local community and businesses in the area.

Ms Bain said: “It was a focused area in Glasgow where it seemed to be a very dense problem.”

Adding that “all these features led into the ultimate decision that was made”, the Lord Advocate continued: “There would be no reason why we couldn’t make the same sort of assessment in relation to another such facility, so long as it was underpinned by the very strong evidence base we were given in order to make the decision for the Thistle centre.”

In March, Allan Casey, Glasgow City Councils’ addiction services convener, told the committee there is a need for more facilities like the Thistle in both Scotland and across the UK.

The safer consumption room was only established after a lengthy campaign, with Mr Casey saying to the MPs: “We have managed to do it in Glasgow but we know safe consumption rooms are needed, we need more of them in Scotland and across the UK as well.”

Appearing before the committee, superintendent Joanne McEwan of Police Scotland was asked what is to stop officers intercepting regular visitors to the Thistle Centre whom they know are likely to be in possession of a controlled substance.

She said that this would depend on “reasonable grounds” and stated that it is not Police Scotland’s aim to target those using the facility.

She said: “Somebody on their way to the facility, that on its own would not offer an officer reasonable grounds to search, to stop and search that person.

“That has been another important message for officers in terms of the guidance – whilst it would not offer on its own reasonable grounds, nor would it offer a defence to somebody who was found in the possession of drugs on their way to the facility.

“So, if I can make that important distinction, if an officer did have reasonable grounds to search somebody and found them to be in possession of a suspected controlled drug, somebody’s assertion that they were going to the facility would not provide a defence.”

She added: “It’s not the intention or the aim of Police Scotland to target people who are using the facility.

“That would not be, in my view, in the public interest, it wouldn’t be in our broader approach to drug related deaths and harms.

“But we will, of course, continue to operate within the law and the Misuse of Drugs Act as it’s set out. “