No prosecution plan for possession in drug consumption rooms in Scotland

Scotland’s prime legislation officer has made clear it could “not be in the public interest” to prosecute folks in a secure medicine consumption room with possession of unlawful substances.

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, the nation’s most senior prosecutor, mentioned she had not been requested to “sign off or approve” such a facility.

With mounting requires a medicine consumption room to be piloted in Glasgow, she confused her function in setting the coverage for prosecutions.

Ms Bain mentioned: “On the basis of the information I have been provided, I would be prepared to publish a prosecution policy that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute drug users for simple possession offences committed within a pilot safer drugs consumption facility.”

Her feedback got here after cross-party MPs in Westminster’s Home Affairs Committee backed the institution of a secure consumption room in Glasgow.

This may enable these scuffling with habit to soundly take medicine beneath supervision from medical professionals, who may intervene within the occasion of an overdose.

The Scottish authorities has repeatedly referred to as for Holyrood to be given the powers to arrange a pilot challenge as a part of its efforts to sort out medicine deaths north of the border, the place the speed is the best in Europe.

However, the UK authorities has constantly rejected pleas for such a facility, with a Home Office spokesperson saying not too long ago: “There is no safe way to take illegal drugs, which devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities, and we have no plans to consider this.”

Ms Bain mentioned: “I’ve not been requested to log off or approve any facility and it could not be applicable for me to take action.

“However, prosecution policy is for me alone to set and this policy, and the consequences which flow from it, have been considered deeply and thoroughly.”

Her assertion that prosecution wouldn’t be within the public curiosity “will not extend to any criminal offences other than possession of controlled substances”, the lord advocate added, making clear “it does not amount to an exclusion zone whereby a range of criminality is tolerated”.

She added: “Police Scotland have operational independence and it has been of the utmost importance to me to ensure that Police Scotland retain the ability to effectively police the facility and ensure that the wider community, those operating the site and those using the facility can be kept safe.”

Read extra:
Scotland drug deaths down but rate higher than rest of Europe
‘I lost my leg to £15 heroin hit’ – on the frontline of drug epidemic

The lord advocate’s assertion comes after figures from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) confirmed there have been a complete of 1,051 deaths as a consequence of drug misuse in Scotland in 2022.

While that is down by 279 from the earlier yr, the NRS report made clear the speed of deaths continues to be “much higher” than it was when recording the information started in 1996.

With a fee of 19.8 drug misuse deaths for each 100,000 folks in 2022, it has the best drug dying fee in Europe.