Danish drug room ‘can work in city’
ADRUG consumption room should be trialled in Glasgow to stem the tide of drug-related deaths and reduce HIV infections, according to a woman who was at the forefront of reducing gang violence in the city.
Karyn McCluskey, former head of the Violence Reduction Unit, is now working with Community Justice Scotland helping homeless people and problem drug users.
Ms McCluskey visited a drug consumption room in Copenhagen, the largest in Europe, to see how it works.
On Twitter and in a radio interview she explained what happened in the facility and why we need something similar, not just in Glasgow or Scotland but the UK.
She said: “Done well, delivered compassionately and thoughtfully, it is a thing to behold.”
She recognised the challenges of setting up a facility in Scotland but said action needs to be taken before more people die.
She said: “It isn’t easy, certainly, but what else is there in the face of all the deaths in Scotland. It’s not the single solution, of course not, but we should try to speak the uncomfortable truths among friends about what’s happening to our fellow human beings who’ve no-one to help them.”
The UK Government minister responsible for police and drugs, Kit Malthouse, said during the UK drug deaths summit in Glasgow last week there were no plans to allow consumption rooms. He said the legal difficulties must not be underestimated.
There are dozens of drug consumption rooms operating legally across Europe, including eight in Barcelona, five in Hamburg, three in Amsterdam, three in Zurich, two in Copenhagen, two in Berlin and one in Oslo and one in Paris.
But Mr Malthouse said the government would not condone the use of illegal drugs. The Lord Advocate has said the UK law needs to be changed to allow immunity from prosecution for staff working at any facility.
Ms McCluskey, said however, after her visit to Copenhagen: “We can’t wait another year. We should try it and evaluate it. The alternative if not in a year’s time we are talking about how those who die of hopelessness on our streets.
“We are looking at 1500 people.
The outcome is we want fewer people to die we and to reduce HIV.”
She said the facility is open 23 hours a day, closing only for an hour for a deep clean.
She said: “It’s there if you need it and when you need it. Driven by people’s needs and responded to by a pretty extraordinary group of people who manage the service.”
Yesterday the Glasgow Times reported how a man is planning to set up a mobile drug consumption room in Glasgow.
Peter Krykant, is fundraising to but a van and kit it out to operate as a safer facility, an alternative to the outdoor injecting sites used by many.