A report in the Guardian tells how The UK’s first legal drug consumption room, the Thistle, will open its doors in the East End of Glasgow on Monday morning after a 10-year battle to realise the pioneering facility. 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 under the supervision of health professionals.
But this potentially transformative moment in UK drugs policy takes place with Scotland’s drug deaths still the worst per capita in Europe, the equivalent of three Scots dying every day. It emerged last week that more than 1,500 drug-addicted babies had been born in recent years, adding to widespread anger at the Scottish government’s continuing failure to arrest this trend, with underfunding of residential rehabilitation and wraparound care to support people getting into medically assisted treatment.
Holy Smoke!
Embrace the insanity...
But this potentially transformative moment in UK drugs policy takes place with Scotland’s drug deaths still the worst per capita in Europe, the equivalent of three Scots dying every day. It emerged last week that more than 1,500 drug-addicted babies had been born in recent years, adding to widespread anger at the Scottish government’s continuing failure to arrest this trend, with underfunding of residential rehabilitation and wraparound care to support people getting into medically assisted treatment.
Holy Smoke!
Embrace the insanity...