The pilot of the UK’s first consumption room will not take away vital resources from other drug addiction services, First Minister Humza Yousaf has insisted.
Scottish Conservative MSP Annie Wells pressed Mr Yousaf at First Minister’s Questions to commit that services such as residential rehabilitation facilities will not be deprioritised as the Scottish Government backs a safe consumption room trial.
Plans for a safe consumption room were announced in September last year after Scotland’s Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC announced it would not be in the public interest to prosecute users of such a facility.
The first-of-its-kind facility in the UK will be based in Glasgow’s Hunter Street and is expected to be used by people who currently inject drugs in public spaces.
Mr Yousaf responded to the question to say residential rehabilitation “absolutely won’t be deprioritised” in any consumption room pilot.
Read more: Suspected drug deaths in Scotland increase by 7 per cent
He added: “Drug deaths are of course a public health emergency and we remain absolutely committed to investing an additional £250 million on our national mission to reduce harm and deaths caused by drugs.”
He said funding for the pilot had already been earmarked “in the knowledge that Glasgow might need to proceed quickly following the Lord Advocate’s position”.
He added: “No existing drug and alcohol services will therefore be affected to fund this pilot.”
Ms Wells said: “Residential rehabilitation is a vital way in not just helping drug users beat addiction, but to help them get their lives back.
Read more: UK's first drug consumption room gets go ahead to open in Glasgow
“And yet, the most recent figures show people starting these facilities fell to their lowest in more than two years.
“Can the First Minister assure vulnerable people that his Government will not oversee a further reduction in places?”
Mr Yousaf said the Scottish Government is “absolutely committed” to increasing residential rehabilitation capacity by 50% by the end of the parliamentary term, with a projected 172 beds by 2025-26.
The total bed capacity would increase from 425 to 597.
Drugs and alcohol minister Elena Whitham said plans are under way to try and open the safe consumption room by the summer.
Read more: Leading charity slams 'lack of leadership' over Scottish drug deaths
Labour MSP Paul Sweeney told the FM that “the safe consumption pilot in Glasgow is a critical part of our effort to tackle the drug deaths crisis”, but warned “we need many complementary tools in the toolkit in order to address the crisis effectively”.
He added: “The Turning Point Scotland 218 centre in Glasgow, which supports women in the justice system with a number of critical issues such as problematic drug use, is set to close next month as a result of funding cuts.
“How can the First Minister say that other drug policy interventions are not being compromised when his Government is allowing a well-established and effective lifeline service in Glasgow to close?”
In response, Mr Yousaf stressed that the Turning Point facility is “an excellent service”.
He added: “Decisions about funding it are, of course, made locally.
“In our discussions with Glasgow City Council, the council has made it clear that, if the service has to close, it is already ensuring that there is appropriate service provision available for the women who would be impacted.”
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