Licence application submitted to launch drug-checking service in Glasgow

Scotland’s drug policy minister has welcomed as a “milestone” the submission of a licensing application for a drug-checking facility in Glasgow.

Glasgow becomes the third health and social care partnership to apply to the UK Home Office as part of a £1 million pilot scheme.

The city facility, if approved, will be based at a hub in the east end of Glasgow, where the UK’s first official safe drug consumption room is due to open later this year.

The drug-checking service would allow dependent drug users to submit a drug sample which will be tested to identify the substance before healthcare staff at the site can provide specific harm-reduction information.

Drugs and alcohol policy minister Christina McKelvie said: “Glasgow’s licence application is a welcome milestone. Drug-checking facilities would enable us to respond faster to emerging drug trends, which is particularly important given the presence of highly dangerous, super strong synthetic opioids like nitazenes in an increasingly toxic and unpredictable drug supply.

“These increase the risk of overdose, hospitalisation and death, and are being found in a range of substances.”

The UK Government has provided essential criteria which each facility must establish before the licence can be issued, with officials already inspecting Dundee and Aberdeen sites.