Scots heroin addicts ‘to get first shooting gallery in UK’
DRUG addicts could get heroin on the NHS, with Britain’s first ‘shooting gallery’ proposed for Scotland. NHS bosses are preparing a ‘business case’ to prescribe the Class A drug free of charge to addicts.
The pharmaceutical-grade heroin would be taken at the UK’s first injecting facility – in Glasgow city centre.
Calls to follow the Netherlands and Belgium in bringing ‘shooting galleries’ to Britain have previously been rejected by ministers.
Police Scotland has expressed its ‘strong opposition’ to the move.
But Scotland’s largest health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said heroin can be legally prescribed if there is a medical requirement.
Its plan comes despite previous UK trials showing people given heroin on the NHS still take street drugs and that it has no effect on crime.
The health board last night said the scheme, being considered by a working group, might not be approved.
It insisted only a small number of drug users would be allowed heroin on the NHS – although officials admitted up to 500 drug users who inject in public in Glasgow city centre would fall within the remit of its proposals.
Lucy Dawe of charity Cannabis Skunk Sense said: ‘This is terrifying. What we should be doing is trying to get people off drugs, not allowing the state to become a drug dealer for them.
‘It is very scary for people, particularly older people and those with children, to know that drug users will all be in one place in the city centre like this.
‘It seems as if the authorities are condoning drug-taking; they are failing to see that drug-taking can be treated.
‘We should be spending the money on helping people get clean, rather than feeding their addiction on the NHS.’
Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘There is no question heroin addiction remains a major problem.
‘We think abstinence-based programmes requiring complete co-operation of the state and the individual are the best way of helping people beat this terrible drug.
‘Scotland does not want to risk tackling this problem with programmes which encourage injecting and drug use.’
Last week, the British Medical Association voted in favour of prescribing heroin on the NHS.
Leading doctors will now lobby the UK Government to provide ‘heroin-assisted treatment’ and ‘supervised consumption rooms’.
In Glasgow, if the proposals go ahead, drug users would enter a room after giving their name and a password, then walk into an open booth. Medical staff would watch while they took the heroin.
It is not known how often drug users would get heroin, but a report by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said similar services provide it three times a day, seven days a week. A spokesman said it would depend on addicts’ ‘health needs’.
The report said Police Scotland is strongly against the proposal for NHS heroin, given its duty to uphold the law on drug-taking.
It also revealed drug users are almost as likely to overdose in injecting centres as on the streets.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is also considering vending machines with needles to let addicts swap their old ones and moving a needle exchange for heroin addicts to Boots the Chemist in the city’s Central Station.
Dr Emilia Crighton, director of public health at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and vice-chairman of Glasgow City Alcohol and Drug Partnership, said: ‘We are decades behind other countries in the way we tackle this problem.
‘It’s clear we need to move beyond the current model in order to meet the needs of our communities and this very vulnerable group.
‘Our ultimate goal is for drug users to recover from their addiction and remain drug-free. However, until someone is ready to seek and receive help to stop using drugs it is important to keep them as safe as possible while they do continue to use drugs.’
Public health minister Aileen Campbell said: ‘The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce drug consumption rooms or heroin-assisted treatment on a national basis.
‘This is a matter for Glasgow City Alcohol and Drug Partnership and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board.
‘We would encourage the health board to ensure it consults with communities before making any decisions.
‘We constantly look at new developments in drugs policy to see how effective they are and we would encourage an independent evaluation of any such facility.’
The Lord Advocate would be required to authorise any proposals for establishing supervised injecting facilities.