It’s been four years since then-first minister Nicola Sturgeon called Scotland’s drug deaths problem a public health emergency. Today, the current first minister John Swinney arrived at The Thistle drug consumption room in Glasgow. When it opens on Monday, it will be the first and only place in the UK where people will be able to take drugs without fear of arrest. The Scottish Government hopes it will help drug users access wider support, as well as reduce the risk of viruses such as HIV. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00It's been four years since then-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called Scotland's drug deaths
00:06problem a public health emergency.
00:10Almost 5,000 people have lost their lives to it since then.
00:14The signs of this crisis are strewn across Glasgow's parks and alleyways.
00:19Scotland's largest city is Europe's drug death capital.
00:23But it's about to experiment with one possible solution.
00:28Today, First Minister John Swinney arrived at the Thistle Drug Consumption Room, one
00:33mile from the city centre.
00:35When it opens on Monday, it will be the first and only place in the UK where people will
00:41be able to take drugs without fear of arrest.
00:44Clean needles will be available and NHS staff will be on hand to respond to overdoses.
00:50In the nature of the scale of the challenge that we face and the need to achieve more
00:57for people means that that tenacity is ever more important and precious.
01:02So thank you for getting us to this point.
01:06Centres such as these have been set up in Canada, Australia and across Europe, including
01:11this one here in Denmark.
01:13It's been running for just over a decade.
01:16In that time, needle sharing has almost been eradicated and the country's HIV rates have
01:21dropped to one of the lowest in the world.
01:25Then there's KNIRF, Platform 9, which has been operating in Geneva for over 20 years.
01:31So saving lives was the obvious one, reduction in HIV transmission and all of the rest.
01:36So that's one element of success.
01:38It's a pragmatic approach.
01:41It's one that there is a problem.
01:42People will always be using drugs.
01:44So it's recognising that and creating this space where then people can speak, they can
01:49talk, they can potentially go into treatment as well if they need that.
01:54Back in Glasgow, just a short distance from the clinic.
01:58I am 42 years of age.
02:00I've been taking drugs for 30 odd years.
02:03Heroin destroyed my life, it destroyed my leg.
02:06Billy is part of a demographic the Thistle is trying to reach, but he says he doesn't
02:11see himself going there.
02:13You want to take your drugs as soon as you get them.
02:15That's what I'm saying.
02:16You won't come all the way up here once you've scored in City Centre and want to use a consumption room.
02:21OK, so if you come through here, but watch your feet.
02:23There's a lot of uncapped needles lying in the ground.
02:26John Campbell works for the NHS, providing clean equipment to drug users.
02:31He backs the new consumption room as a tool to try and reduce harm, but, like Billy, believes
02:37its reach will be limited.
02:38I think people will choose to use the facility.
02:41Other ones will have to be encouraged to use the facility, but we know it's unlikely that
02:46people will travel some distance.
02:49The Thistle will run as a three-year pilot to see what difference it makes to Glasgow's
02:53most at-risk people.
02:56It won't be a panacea to the public health emergency, but it offers an alternative to
03:00this and represents a step in the right direction.