1 LIFE SAVED WILL MAKE IT WORTHWHILE

Drug consumption room approved and will open next year | Councillor hopes it will get addicts off street & in recovery

- VIVIENNE AITKEN

THE UK's first drug consumption room has been approved and will open in Glasgow next year.

Campaigners, backed by the Daily Record, have been calling for the facility for more than six years.

It was finally given the go-ahead yesterday at Glasgow's Integration Joint Board, which runs addiction services in the city.

The DCR will be housed in Hunter Street in the east of the city, where there is a known problem with drug users injecting in the streets.

It will be next to a drug clinic.

The facility will mean drug users can inject their own illegally-bought drugs under close medical supervision.

The consumption room has formed part of the Scottish Government's plan to tackle Scotland's drugs crisis, which has seen more lives lost per head than in any other country in Europe.

Drugs deaths peaked at 1339 in 2020 before falling in 2021 and 2022. However, latest preliminary figures indicate deaths are rising again.

The consumption room is seen as a step to allow medical professionals to interact with users and support them in various aspects of their lives - including helping them to come off drugs when the time is right.