‘Change is needed’: Canadian experts say cops could turn blind eye to safe consumption rooms DUNDEE DRUGS DEATHS

DRUG workers concerned about the rise in overdose deat hs i n Dundee could set up rogue safe consumption rooms to tackle rising fatalities, Canadian experts say.

Professor Bernie Pauly and Dr Bruce Wallace, of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR), told a city conference that Vancouver activists got fed up waiting for action on the city’s drugs crisis.

A report on the meeting concluded that those who attended believe immediate change is needed to halt the rate of drugs deaths in Scotland.

However, Dundee groups which interested in operating a safe consumption room of their own are uneasy about the move.

Rev Tony Thornthwaite, minister at Coldside Parish Church, has shelved his plans for a consumption room after holding discussions with police.

He said: “We’ve got a group of people looking at this but the trouble is if we did something illegal we’d be writing off a lot of other agencies which would love to be involved in safe spaces. It would be counter-productive.

“But the latest figures have been a tipping point. The urgency is not going away and change has to happen as soon as possible.

“The fact that we’re living in the drugs deaths capital of the developed world can’t be allowed to go on.”

The report on the meeting, hosted by government-funded think tank Drugs Research Network Scotland at the Steeple Church in May, was released yesterday.

The CISUR experts noted parallels between Vancouver – where 389 people died of overdoses last year – and Dundee.

Of note in their discussions were the actions taken by activists to set up their own safe consumption rooms as a response to lawmakers who they felt were taking too long to act.

While illegal, the facilities were tolerated by police who understood the benefits of giving drug users clean equipment and supervising them to prevent overdose deaths.

Before long, they were sanctioned under a special ministerial order at the end of 2016.

The report said: “In British Columbia, law enforcement took a position of non-interference with respect to overdose prevention services.

“There was no need for police authorities to publicly support these services and provide letters of comfort – they just