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Last Updated:January 10, 2025, 19:55 IST
The pilot facility in Scotland’s Glasgow -- funded by a £2 million (USD 2.5 million) Scottish government grant -- will allow users to take their own drugs in a clean environment under medical supervision.
The Thistle is expected to help reduce overdoses as UK and Scotland battles with drug death numbers. (X)
In a bid to reduce overdoses and drug-related harm, the United Kingdom (UK) is all set to open doors of the country’s first legal drug consumption facility, the Thistle, following prolonged negotiations.
The pilot facility in Scotland’s Glasgow — funded by a £2 million (USD 2.5 million) Scottish government grant — will allow users to take their own drugs in a clean environment under medical supervision.
The facility, which will open the doors on Monday, will welcome its first clients who will come in to inject illegally-bought heroin or cocaine under medical supervision. The Thistle will remain open 365 days a year from 9am to 9pm and allow some of the most vulnerable addicts in the city to take their own drugs in a clean and safe environment.
It aims to reduce overdoses and drug-related harm associated with injecting drugs, including the risk from blood-borne viruses such as HIV, as well as making drug use less visible to the community.
The facility is based in Glasgow’s east end, where there is a high population of users who take drugs in public. Thistle followed years of political legal wrangling between the parliaments in London and Edinburgh.
What’s Inside The Thistle?
The Thistle is modelled on more than 100 similar facilities across the world, as per a report by BBC.
People who arrive at the centre with drugs have to be registered with the service before they are permitted entry. Inside, there are eight booths where nursing staff will supervise injections and respond to overdoses. The consumption room will not have the ability to test the drugs being taken, but will provide a safe environment for those using them, the report added.
“Some services similar in size to this in other countries are seeing up to 200 people a day but it’s really difficult to predict," Service manager Lynn Macdonald told the news outlet.
The service also provides medical consultation rooms, a recovery and observation room and a kitchen and lounge area. Users will also have access to a clothing bank and showers.
Scots Leader Hails Facility
The devolved government in Edinburgh, led by Swinney’s Scottish Party, also hopes to help drug users improve their lives at the centre and reduce the wider negative impacts of them injecting in public places.
“While this facility is not a silver bullet, it is another significant step forward and will complement other efforts to reduce harms and deaths," First Minister Swinney said to news agency AFP as he toured the location.
He noted people “with lived experience" of the issue were involved in designing the service and recruiting staff.
Scotland, UK Grapple With Drug Usage
There were 1,172 deaths by drug misuse registered in 2023, up 12 percent on the previous year but the second lowest number in the last six years, according to official Scottish statistics.
The rate is nearly three times higher than in England and Northern Ireland and around nine times levels across the European Union.
Opioid drugs such as heroin and methadone were implicated in 80 percent of Scotland’s 2023 drug-related deaths, while super-strong synthetic opioids such as nitazenes were also a growing threat, according to the data.
Location :United Kingdom (UK)
First Published:January 10, 2025, 19:53 IST
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