‘Fix rooms’ for drug users to safely inject likely to get go-ahead

A plan to establish “fix rooms” in Glasgow for drug addicts to inject safely under supervision is likely to get the green light.

The police as well as the health board and city council are expected to agree to the scheme, the first in the UK.

A separate plan for supervised injection of medical-grade heroin is also likely to be given the go-ahead.

The plans are to be considered by the Glasgow City Integration Joint Board. The case for operating the scheme was made by the Glasgow City Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP).

Similar programmes are used by Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Australia and other countries.

The Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF), said the rooms would allow drug users to inject safely.

Speaking to BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme, forum director David Liddell (pictured), said: “I know it’s been highlighted as controversial, but when you see that these have been running in many countries in Europe for a long time - Holland for example now has 31 drug consumption rooms and Germany has 24.

“These are in addition to the existing provision. The key point is we have people who are mostly long-term users - people have been using for more than 20 years or more. Abstinence recovery is not on their immediate horizon.

“The most immediate thing for these individuals is the need to keep them alive so they can recover in the future.”

However, Professor Neil McKeganey, who founded the Centre of Drug Misuse Research, disagreed.

He told the BBC: “For anyone who’s not an advocate of drugs de-criminalisation they are controversial and they will be seen as such.

“Some years ago, we surveyed over 1,000 drug addicts in Scotland and we asked them what they wanted to get from treatment.

“Less than 5 per cent said they wanted to help to inject more safely and the overwhelming majority said they wanted help to become drugs free. These facilities have a role to play but there is a real danger here we are moving steadily away from services to get addicts off drugs.”

Dr Emilia Crighton, director of public health at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as vice-chairwoman of the ADP, said that most of Europe is providing such services.

She added: “There are safe consumption rooms - Switzerland has a model where there is heroin-assisted treatment and opiates-replacement treatment that satisfies the needs of the population.

“So we really have to find a solution that brings the solutions elsewhere in the world to Glasgow.”