Campaigners have warned of a policing black spot around Glasgow’s new drug consumption room that could put the community and drug users at risk.
The Thistle facility, will open tomorrow to become the first of its kind in the UK to allow people to take illegal drugs in a supervised environment.
Although drug possession will not be prosecuted inside the £2million a year centre the police, Scottish Government and prosecutors are unable to explain how the surroundings of the site will be managed.
Critics argue that police presence in the area could deter people from using the facility but a lack of officers would allow criminal gangs and drug dealers to operate in the knowledge they won’t be caught.
Annemarie Ward, chief executive of recovery charity FAVOR UK, said: “If police are not allowed to patrol or enforce drug possession laws around the facility it could create a policing black spot that risks attracting other forms of criminal activity.
“You cannot invite people to use a facility under the premise of safety and harm reduction while simultaneously criminalising the behaviour necessary for them to access it.”
The drug consumption room will open after years of legal wrangling and political turmoil.
First Minister John Swinney (centre) and Health Secretary Neil Gray (left) with Dr Saket Priyadarshi, Associate Medical Director for Alcohol and Drug Services in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, during their visit to the Thistle Centre Safer Drugs Consumption Facility in Glasgow
It has been hailed by many charities and government ministers as a solution to Scotland’s growing drugs deaths crisis with staff predicting they could see up to 200 people a day coming to inject and use drugs.
The Lord Advocate has stated it would not be in the public interest to prosecute people who have drugs inside the building but said this did not extend to those coming to and from the site.
The Crown Office stressed that “policy does not extend to people on their way to and from the facility or anywhere else in the city” and added: “Drugs seized by police will not be returned to an individual.”
Ward said there were “glaring contradictions” with the policy.
She said: “These unanswered questions reveal a lack of coherent planning that could have significant consequences for both users of the facility and the surrounding community.
“ Drug dealers in particular will exploit this situation, as they have in these rooms across the world, as they are seen as an easy target for distributing substances without fear of intervention.
“This creates an environment that not only endangers users but also undermines public safety for the broader community. This is just a fact and happens everywhere these rooms are opened.”
In Toronto in Canada there have been reports of antisocial behaviour and violence outside a drug consumption room while in Australia residents living near another facility said it had become an “open air slum” with drug users defecating in front of children and property values plummeting.
In America reports have emerged of a rise in drug dealing in the areas closest to drug consumption rooms.
Annemarie Ward, Favor UK CEO
(Image: Daily Record)
Ward said: “On the other hand, if police were to monitor and arrest individuals carrying drugs en route to the facility it would completely deter people from using the site. This defeats the stated purpose of the consumption room and exposes the inherent contradiction in the policy.
“Scotland’s drug policy needs to move beyond these piecemeal approaches. We must prioritise recovery, invest in services that rebuild lives and create policies that genuinely protect individuals and communities. This facility, as it stands, appears to be yet another example of a system that has lost its way.”
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The Sunday Mail asked the Scottish Government for its response to concerns about a potential crime hotspot around The Thistle but an official said it was for Police Scotland to address operational enquiries.
The Crown Office stressed that the new prosecution policy only extended to the boundaries of The Thistle facility and said: “There’s no change to guidelines to police for other locations.”
Police Scotland did not respond when asked if officers would actively be patrolling the area around the site and arresting people suspected to have drugs.
Instead, Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton said: “Police Scotland is committed to working in partnership to reduce the harm associated with problematic substance use and addiction. Our approach to any initiative, aimed at tackling these harms, will be to establish how best we can support it within the confines of the law.
“Existing legislation will not be changing and our officers will be bound by their legal duty to uphold the law and will not ignore acts of criminality. We also have a duty to respond to the communities in the area surrounding the Safer Drugs Consumption Facility.”
The Scottish Conservatives justice spokesman Liam Kerr MSP said: “It’s clear that key issues surrounding this new facility have simply not been thought through by the SNP government.
“Ahead of its opening tomorrow there remain too many unanswered questions especially for our police force and hard working officers.
“Communities close to the facility also deserve urgent reassurance that proper monitoring of the new prosecution policy is in place.
“The Scottish Conservatives have repeatedly said the consumption room is not a silver bullet to tackle Scotland’s appalling drug deaths rate and the SNP must also back other measures, including the Right to Recovery Bill.”
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