It will take several years for the full health impact of the UK’s first safer drugs consumption room in Glasgow to be understood, MPs have been told.
A group of experts giving evidence to Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee said international evidence suggests that local communities will see benefits from such facilities.
The Thistle Centre, which officially opened in January, is a space where drug users can take illegal substances such as heroin and cocaine under medical supervision in a hygienic environment.
The pilot scheme in the city’s east end is designed to reduce public drug use and help tackle Scotland’s drug deaths rate, which is the worst in Europe.
The Lord Advocate, Scotland’s top prosecutor, has anticipated it will operate as a pilot and there will be a “careful and rigorous evaluation of the facility and its effects”.
Dorothy Bain KC made clear in 2023 that prosecuting the users of such a facility for simple drugs possession charges would “not be in the public interest”, but stressed it is not her role to “sign off” on the centre.
An interim report will be published two-and-a-half years after the opening of the service, with an overall evaluation after four-and-a-half years.
Professor Vittal Katikireddi, of Glasgow University, is involved in the evaluation of the pilot scheme and was one of those giving evidence on Wednesday.
People who would traditionally be using opioids such as heroin have largely shifted towards the cocaine market
He told MPs the level of engagement in the facility and the demographics of people using it can be measured “fairly quickly”.
Prof Katikireddi said: “In terms of actually tracking things through to the amount of overdoses, ambulance call-outs, these kind of measures you can view as harder health outcomes – that can often take some time and it depends a bit on how big the service is …
“That will probably take more in the order of two or three years to develop that type of evidence.
“But potentially longer than that in terms of it being peer-reviewed and published and so on.”
He said similar schemes around the world had tended to see improvements in anti-social behaviour in local communities.
The committee was told there are about 200 facilities in 19 countries, including the UK and Ireland.
Professor Andrew McAuley, of Glasgow Caledonian University, said other safer consumption room schemes have resulted in a reduction of drug-related litter.
He said poly drug use – using more than one type of substance – is particularly prevalent in Scotland and cocaine is a notable feature in drug data.
Prof McAuley said: “Cocaine for example, has radically changed the whole landscape in Scotland.
“Moving from more of a so-called recreational drug to much more into the street drug scene, being injected by huge amounts of people – people who would traditionally be using opioids such as heroin have largely shifted towards the cocaine market.”
When almost 100 Scots are dying every month from drugs - a death rate far worse than anywhere else in Europe - the priority must be saving lives
Lib Dem MP Angus Macdonald, a member of the committee, later said the Scottish Government must press ahead with rolling out other safer consumption facilities.
He said: “Support for facilities like this has been Liberal Democrat policy for many years, long before a consensus emerged in their favour, and I am glad that forward-thinking approach has finally become a reality.
“Huge volumes of international evidence already exists showing these centres are proven to keep people safe and support them into recovery. We must not wait until 2029 before ensuring that people in areas like Dundee, Aberdeen and Edinburgh have access to similar facilities.
“When almost 100 Scots are dying every month from drugs – a death rate far worse than anywhere else in Europe – the priority must be saving lives.”
