Scotland drug deaths 2024 in charts as UK's first drug-consumption room in Glasgow looks to delay opening

The drug-consumption room, which has been due to open in the east end of Glasgow in October, now looks set to open at new year or early 2025. The room will allow for drug-users to take illegal substances while under medical supervision.

Glasgow councillor Allan Casey revealed that the opening was delayed, admitting: “We’re probably weeks away. It will be round about the tail end of this year or the very start of the new year.”

He said that the delays were due to construction issues, including “connecting the water supply” at the Hunter Street facility, with NHS Great Glasgow and Clyde’s infection team now testing the water supply and ventilation. He added: “Nobody is more frustrated than myself, the staff are all recruited, they’re ready to go, the building is to all intents and purposes complete.

“We just want to get open and provide that service, but we can’t cut any corners. We need to make sure this is done properly because so much scrutiny is on this building and the service that is provided, it is the first in the UK and we must get it right for everybody for it opening.”

Cllr Casey added: “If we were to cut corners I think we would be accused of putting people at risk as well, and I think that is not in any way acceptable, we need to make sure we do this properly, that it is safe for everybody to use.”

The drug-consumption room in Glasgow had been first proposed in 2016 but was at the centre of fierce debate between the Scottish and UK government until Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC ruled that it would not be in the “public interest” to prosecute drug users attending the facility.

Cllr Casey said: “Let’s be honest here, we have been waiting for 10 years to open this facility and there has been red tape around that from the UK government, from the Home Office. So another couple of weeks where we test the water to make sure it is safe, I think is something we can cope with.

“There’s been red tape for over a decade now, and we have been fighting to get this open, but we want to do it right, we don’t want to cut any corners and cause any further issues – or cause the building and then have to close at some point in the future, that would not be in anybody’s interests.”

Deaths drop but remain ‘at a high level’

The delay to opening the UK’s first drug-consumption room comes after the Scottish Government released new data from Police Scotland showing that the number of drug-related deaths in Scotland has slightly reduced. Between January and September 2024, 833 suspected drug-related deaths were reported across the country.

The Scottish Government said that the level of suspected drug-related deaths were 7% lower than during the same period in 2023. End-of-year statistics shows that deaths had slightly risen in 2023 following a decline the previous year.

The newest data also showed that for the third quarter of 2024, between July and September, the number of fatalities fell to the lowest rate for two years. The report added: “Suspected drug deaths have fallen over recent quarters but remain at a high level.”

Of the 833 deaths reported in the data, 74% were men. Meanwhile, 45 to 54-year-olds made up the highest percentage of the deaths, at almost 34%.

Glasgow, the location of the UK’s first drug consumption room, had the highest number of deaths at 186, followed by Lanarkshire (106) and Edinburgh City (70).

‘Every death is political failure’

Labour’s health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said that the updated figures show that “too many lives” are still being lost, adding that “every single one of these deaths is a personal tragedy and a political failure”. She accused the SNP of cutting funding for drug and alcohol services in real terms in the latest Scottish budget.

Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray defended his party’s track record on the issue, saying that the government had provided “record levels of funding” for programmes. He added that spending on services such as alcohol and drug support has been protected in the recent budget.

Mr Gray said: “Record levels of funding for alcohol and drugs programmes were protected in last week’s budget. We’ve maintained £112 million to local ADPs (Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships) for treatment and support services and we’ll continue to invest in residential rehabilitation – with more than £10 million committed to increasing capacity and funded placements.”