May rules out ‘fix areas’ to tackle drugs scourge

Plea to allow consumption rooms in attempt to reduce sharp rise in number of deaths among Scottish addicts

Theresa May has ruled out allowing drug consumption rooms which proponents say would help reduce the number of users’ deaths.

SNP MP Alison Thewliss raised the issue in the House of Commons yesterday but a suggestion to set up a facility in her Glasgow constituency was rebuffed by the Prime Minister.

Official figures released this month showed that Dundee has taken over from Glasgow as Scotland’s drug death capital.

A person lost their life to the scourge every week in 2017.

Mrs May said: “Each death due to drugs is a tragedy, and I am sure that every Member of this House will have known people in their own constituency who have gone through that terrible suffering when they have lost members of their family. There is no legal framework for the provision of drug consumption rooms in the UK and we have no plans to introduce them.

“A range of offences is likely to be committed in the operation of drug consumption rooms.

“It is for local police forces to enforce the law in such circumstances and we would expect them to do so.

“But our approach on drugs remains very clear: we must prevent drug use in our communities and support people dependent on drugs through treatment and recovery.”

Sharon Brand, from Recovery Dundee, said Mrs May’s response was “typical from out of touch politicians” and urged the PM to rethink the ban on fix rooms.

She said: “Drugs consumption rooms have been shown to work in reducing drugs deaths. They may not necessarily be right for Dundee, but the city should be given the freedom to give it a try.”

Mrs Brand added: “I think that drug policy should be devolved to Scotland because Westminster is so far removed from what is happening here.

“They do not see the human loss we are suffering.”

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Thewliss raised the National Records of Scotland statistics, which revealed that 934 drug-related deaths occurred in Scotland last year – 8% more than in 2016.

Earlier this year, the Glasgow Central MP brought forward a Ten Minute Rule Bill, asking the UK government to make a legal exemption to allow for a Safer Drug Consumption Facility (SDCF) to be piloted in Glasgow. To date, no exemption has been granted.

She said: “These latest numbers are truly devastating, and represent yet another year-on-year increase in drugrelated deaths in Scotland.

“How many more families must be devastated by this scourge before the Prime Minister takes action?”