Scotland’s first drug-checking service begins operations

Scotland’s first drug-checking service has opened its doors in a move the Government says will save lives.

The facility will allow addicts over the age of 18 to submit drug samples to be checked before receiving tailored advice based on the results, including information about the substance, its strength and any contaminants.

The Scottish Government said the service will give people with drug addiction advice about their health, as well as treatment, and care and recovery options.

Samples will then be sent to the new national testing and research laboratory for drug-testing at the University of Dundee.

Scotland’s drugs minister, Maree Todd, said the move will help authorities detect the spread of potentially dangerous new drugs, including synthetic opioids which have contributed to a rise in drug deaths.

The drug-checking service is based just next door to Scotland’s first safer drug consumption rooms in Glasgow’s East End.

Drug checking services are expected to open in Aberdeen and Dundee in the coming months, while Edinburgh is also working to establish a site.

Those sites, together with the national testing and research laboratory, will form a pilot backed by more than £1.7 million of Government funding.

Speaking to the Press Association at the opening of the Glasgow facility, Ms Todd said she was “confident” the service would save lives.

Asked whether would reduce Scotland’s high rate of drug deaths, she said: “That’s a really difficult question. I think that this will save lives.

“Whether our numbers will go up or down next year, we are at the mercy of a highly contaminated, toxic market that is killing people in Scotland.

“This is a step that we can take to try to reduce that harm and to reduce the death.

“I think it’s really important that this is happening, and I’m very hopeful that we are going to be able to make an impact on the overall numbers as soon as possible.”

The drugs minister said the facility will help people ensure “they have got what they thought they bought”.

She warned: “Very often, Scotland is a highly contaminated, highly dangerous market.

“Very often in Scotland people are not getting what they think they are buying.

“This is an important step to ensuring that people know what they are taking.”

The Scottish Government hopes the facility will serve as an early warning system as new drugs flood the market.

Ms Todd told PA authorities will be able to detect new drugs quicker due to the service.

She said: “Individuals coming here can get individual harm reduction advice but also a sample gets sent off to Dundee, and information is available then to the entirety of Scotland about what is contaminating the market, and that information can go right out across Scotland to try to prevent deaths all over the country.”

Mary Clare Madden, the lead pharmacist for NHS drug services in Glasgow, said those using the facility could see results within an hour.

“Drug checking is about saving lives, harm reduction, early interventions, and opportunities to support people from a public health response,” she told PA.

She said people using the service would be given support as well as information about the drugs.

Ms Madden added: “That’s the key focus of drug checking: safer decisions and promoting and influencing behaviour change.

“Someone might actually change how they take the drug, hey might take less, or they might dispose of it entirely”.