Authorities in Glasgow are poised to approve the UK’s first official consumption area for illegal narcotics such as heroin and cocaine later this year.
The Scottish government supports the facility as a means of addressing the country’s drug-related mortality.
It would entail consumers administering their own medications in a clean setting under the supervision of skilled health professionals.
A prototype plan would be implemented at a health centre in the city’s east end.
The proposal has been considered for years, but it can finally move forward after Scotland’s leading law officer stated that users would not be prosecuted if they were in possession of illegal narcotics while at the facility.
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC’s guidance to prosecutors earlier this month indicated that it would “not be in the public interest” to commence proceedings in such situations.
On Wednesday morning, Glasgow’s Integration Joint Board, which includes NHS and council officials, will discuss the consumption room concept.
According to a report on the facility provided by NHS and Glasgow City Council officials, it attempts to address the problem of “approximately 400 to 500 people injecting drugs in public places in Glasgow city centre on a regular basis.”