Minister ‘worried’ about reports of needles on ground near drug consumption room

Scotland’s new drugs minister has said she is “worried” about reports local residents are witnessing a rise in crime and needles on the streets linked to the opening of the UK’s first drug consumption room.

Maree Todd said it is important the Scottish Government is not “cloth-eared” to residents’ concerns.

But she said there is no evidence to back up claims of increased crime, littering and sightings of discarded needles in Glasgow’s east end, where the facility is based.

The minister toured The Thistle, which opened in January, with the Global Commission on Drug Policy on Thursday.

She said she believes the facility will “make a difference” to Scotland’s high rate of drug deaths, and that it has already saved lives and helped catch contaminated drugs that could spread across the UK.

Asked if she is concerned about some residents reporting a rise in crime and discarded needles since its opening, she told the PA news agency: “Of course it worries us.

“The safe consumption drug facility was sited here because it was already an area where these challenges occurred.

“So there was lots of street usage and lots of littering challenges.

“In time, I would expect that the challenges faced by the community will reduce as the confidence in this facility increases.”

Asked if she accepts locals who believe crime and needle sightings have gone up, she added: “I’m not sure the statistics bear that out.

“I think it’s really important that we’re not cloth-eared to the concerns that the local community are raising.

“It is causing them concern. They think there has been an increase in crime, and they think there has been an increase in littering.

“We need to pay attention to that, and we need to reassure them on that front. Whether that is actually what has happened, or whether the increased focus is what is making people worried about that, I’m not sure.”

She added it is “important” that “appropriate treatment” is not “stigmatised”.

By the end of June, 348 people had registered with The Thistle, with staff overseeing 3,008 injections in six months.

Ms Todd said it is “very difficult” to say whether the facility has been a success – but she believes it will be.

She said: “We do hear first-hand, anecdotally, from the staff working here about some of the incidents that they are facing.

“For example, a few months ago there was a cluster of contaminated drugs being used in Scotland, which almost immediately resulted in very severe overdose and threat to life, and that was able to be reversed here.

“Not only that, they could identify that there was contamination in the drug supply in Scotland, feed that back into our radar systems in Scotland and make sure the message got out all over Scotland.

“In other parts of Scotland where those drugs were being used, death did occur. Here in this facility, death was avoided.

“That’s a really powerful indicator that actually this can save lives, and that’s really important for us in Scotland.”

Asked about her first month in the job since taking over from the late SNP minister Christina McKelvie, she said: “It’s quite a daunting task but it’s one I feel really confident I can make a difference in.”

While Scotland has the worst drug deaths rate in Europe, the minister said she is “confident” she can make a difference, and she added the Scottish Government has been “creative” in its response to the issue.

Helen Clark, prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and one of the commissioners at the Global Commission on Drug Policy, toured the site with Ms Todd.

Ms Clark said while the facility will have to be “studied closely”, it has already shown positive signs of success.

She said: “The fact that in the five months of operating, they’ve recorded 39 medical emergencies tells you they’ve avoided 39 deaths. If people had had those emergencies happen with the drugs they consumed out there, they’d be dead.

“That’s 39 lives saved. It’s hard to put a value on that. It’s incalculable.”

She added: “You have to meet people where they are, and if where they are is on a street corner in central Glasgow, unsafely injecting or inhaling a substance which potentially could kill them, it’s better they’re here.

“So again, it’s about humanity. It’s about not marginalising people who make choices which the vast majority don’t make, but we’re human beings.

“People make choices. They may be very risky. The key thing is to keep them alive.”

Scottish Conservative shadow minister for drugs Annie Wells MSP said: “This is an astonishing display of arrogance from Maree Todd.

“In the same breath, she’s claiming she isn’t cloth eared to the concerns of local residents whilst simultaneously dismissing them out of hand.

“Her claim, too, that this facility has saved 39 lives is also debatable, given the latest drugs deaths statistics showed the number was up – a rise since The Thistle opened.

“While we must look at all ways to treat those who need support, arrogant SNP ministers can ill-afford to pin all their hopes on state-sponsored drug taking, especially when locals are bearing the brunt.”