Opening of UK’s first drug consumption room in Glasgow could be delayed until next year

The UK’s first drug consumption room may not now open until early next year after delays.

The facility, in the east end of Glasgow, was due to open to drug users in October, allowing them to take illegal substances under medical supervision.

But councillor Allan Casey, the convener for addiction services at Glasgow City Council, said final checks to the water and ventilation systems in the building mean it may not open until 2025.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Thursday, he said: “We’re probably weeks away. It will be round about the tail end of this year or the very start of the new year.”

He said there had been “some issues in terms of connecting the water supply” but the building has now been handed over to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s infection control team, which is testing the water supply and ventilation.

He insisted: “Nobody is more frustrated than myself, the staff are all recruited, they’re ready to go, the building is to all intents and purposes complete.

“We just want to get open and provide that service, but we can’t cut any corners.

“We need to make sure this is done properly because so much scrutiny is on this building and the service that is provided, it is the first in the UK and we must get it right for everybody for it opening.

“If we were to cut corners I think we would be accused of putting people at risk as well, and I think that is not in any way acceptable, we need to make sure we do this properly, that it is safe for everybody to use.”

Casey said there has been a “satisfactory test result”, with further results due next week – meaning “we’re only a matter of weeks away from being able to give a definitive date” for the service starting.

While the idea of a drugs consumption room was first proposed in 2016 following an HIV outbreak in the city, its development was embroiled in years of political wrangling between the Scottish and UK governments.

But in 2023 Scotland’s most senior law officer, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, announced it would not be “in the public interest” to prosecute people using such a facility.

The pilot project in Hunter Street is in the same building as a current drug treatment facility and was approved by the Glasgow City Integration Joint Board in September 2023.

Casey said: “Let’s be honest here, we have been waiting for 10 years to open this facility and there has been red tape around that from the UK government, from the Home Office.

“So another couple of weeks where we test the water to make sure it is safe, I think is something we can cope with.

“There’s been red tape for over a decade now, and we have been fighting to get this open, but we want to do it right, we don’t want to cut any corners and cause any further issues – or cause the building and then have to close at some point in the future, that would not be in anybody’s interests.”