UK's first drugs consumption room in Glasgow given opening date

Key Points

The £2.3m facility – the first of its kind in the UK – is to open on October 21
Scotland continues to have double the rate of drug deaths as the rest of the UK
Deaths from drugs had risen by 12% from the previous year
The centre will be open 365 days a year to allow addicts to inject drugs such as heroin under supervision
The Scottish Government has backed the plans but some MSPs have raised concerns

The UK’s first official drugs consumption room is to open in Glasgow later this year.

The £2.3m facility – the first of its kind in the UK – is to open on October 21 in a bid to help tackle Scotland’s drug death crisis.

The site based in the Hunter Street Health and Social Care Centre in the East End of the city will allow addicts to inject drugs such as heroin under the supervision of health professionals.

The centre is said to be able to accommodate 30 users at one time and will be open from 9am to 9pm all year round.

Draft design of the Glasgow City SDCF GCC

The Scottish Government has backed the plans but some MSPs have raised concerns about the impact on the local area, including on businesses.

Work to transform the centre to a fully-working drug consumption facility began on Monday, March 11.

Councillor Allan Casey, city convener for Homelessness and Addiction Services, confirmed the opening date following the news that drug deaths in Scotland had risen by 12%.

Watch
Inside the UK’s first drug consumption room in Glasgow

Figures from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) showed that 1,172 people died due to drug misuse in 2023 – 121 up from the year before.

Scotland continues to have double the rate of drug deaths as the rest of the UK and more than other European countries.

Glasgow City and Dundee City continued to have the highest rates of drug misuse deaths.

Work to transform the centre to a fully-working drug consumption facility began on Monday, March 11. STV News

Cllr Casy said: “The rise in drug-related deaths last year makes clear we are in a public health emergency and one that requires radical action.

“Glasgow has well-established alcohol and drug recovery services that work effectively with the city’s high number of problem drug users, however people with problematic alcohol and drug use experience significant challenges which puts their health and well-being at considerable risk.

“The opening of the Safer Drug Consumption Facility will help reduce fatal and non-fatal overdoses by providing users with a safe, clean place to inject their own drugs in the presence of trained medical staff. The urgent need for such a facility couldn’t be more important and we are only a matter of weeks away with an estimated opening date of October 21.

“However, it’s still widely recognised that involvement in a treatment programme substantially improves someone’s chances of getting the right support mechanisms in place to help them begin their recovery.

“The range of interventions and services we have in the city are all designed to help those most at risk and address the main harms we are seeing among the most vulnerable drug users.”