Why drug consumption rooms will save lives – but only if we tackle stigma too

We are facing a crisis in Scotland and until things change we will continue to needlessly lose lives to drugs. I know what I’m speaking about. On May 14, I hit 18 years clean off heroin.

Overdose, accidental overdose and suicide all plague our society.

And we will never stop all drug deaths. But we can prevent some.

That is why I welcome measures which could open the door to safe drug consumption rooms in Scotland.

Giving addicts a safe place to take drugs is an essential step.

But these venues – also known as overdose prevention centres – could also give the government an opportunity to offer support that is not being provided at present.

Much more work is also needed to tackle the horrendous stigma attached to addicts though.

As an ex-heroin addict, I know many in Scotland will avoid drug consumption rooms out of shame and embarrassment.

And who can blame them when society judges them so harshly?

I only managed to come off heroin because I faced my demons, and put the work into understanding what was going on in my own mind.

If addicts were able to take drugs in a safe environment, many more might be able to open up about their struggles while they’re there.

But they have to understand that these are places where they can go for support without being judged.

We’re talking about drug consumption rooms because of a newly-announced consultation on a proposed Drugs Death Prevention Scotland Bill.

It is being led by Labour MSP Paul Sweeney and it could lead to a Scottish Parliament vote on introducing these centres.

These are places where drug users can go to inject drugs under supervision in a clean, safe environment.

However, a previous attempt to open such a centre in Glasgow was blocked by the UK Home Office, which controls drugs policy.

It comes as Police Scotland figures show 1,295 deaths were linked to illicit drugs last year. The total was down from 1,411 in 2020 – the first fall in five years.

But every death is a tragedy – not least in Dundee, which has been labelled the drugs death capital of Europe due to the disproportionately high level of fatalities in the city.

Education is another crucial part of what

is needed to tackle Scotland’s drugs death crisis.

It would have helped me.

I never injected heroin, but I chased the dragon (smoking with foil) for seven years.

This continued every day until one day I couldn’t get the drug.

When cold turkey started to take hold, so did the shocking reality that I was a heroin addict.

It’s why I believe so strongly in education as part of a package of measures to tackle Scotland’s problem with addiction.

My education as a youngster involved a picture of a needle, a belt and a spoon.

If I had known I could still become a heroin addict through smoking it, I might have avoided it.

I do school visits now and I have spoken to many parents, who show justified anxiety about what I’m teaching children.

“I don’t want my kids hearing about heroin,” they tell me.

I fully understand this but I always argue that your kids will encounter drugs, regardless of how much you try to protect them when they’re small.

Isn’t it better to educate them so that

they know the dangers? I came from a loving family, a well-respected family.

But when I was actively using drugs I didn’t care about what my family thought, or society.

Heroin was my best friend and it allowed me to escape all negative emotions about who I had become.

I made a bad choice in my naivety and I paid the price.

But I’m still one of the very lucky ones. I’m alive, unlike so many of my friends. And I’m drug free, unlike most of the friends I used heroin with for all those years.

Addicts have to want to get clean and they also have to believe it’s possible.

And that’s why I’ve dedicated my life to sharing my story.

If I can go on to stand outside Buckingham Palace as a Scots Guardsman after my heroin addiction, surely that offers hope and much-needed inspiration, not only to addicts but to the families and loved ones.

Which brings me back to stigma. Most people use drugs to escape reality. It’s the same for heroin, cocaine and

alcohol, but it’s only the heroin users who are labelled scumbags. This has to change.

And it’s why the authorities need to involve addicts in coming up with solutions. Many addicts will choose to lie and hide from their reality.

I was spat on and I know how it feels to hear “go away junkie”. But if we want addicts to engage with the resources we offer we have to try to be less judgmental.

Consumption rooms are only a small part of what is needed in Scotland, but it’s a step in the right direction.

We must encourage addicts to engage with the resources we currently offer and look to adding plenty more.

I was spat on and I know how it feels to hear ‘go away junkie’

THE DRUGS DON’T WORK: Former heroin addict Paul Boggie is a supporter of safe drug consumption rooms in Scotland.