WIREDGOV

New hub aims to help reduce drug deaths.

Scotland’s first local drug-checking service in Glasgow has opened its doors.

It will allow people and aged 18 or over who are dependent on illegal drugs to submit drugs samples for checking and receive tailored harm-reduction advice based on the results, such as information on the substance, its strength, or contaminants.

The service will also offer an opportunity to engage people in conversations about their health and wellbeing, wider treatment, and care and recovery.

Samples will then be sent to the recently established national testing and research laboratory for drug-testing, hosted by the University of Dundee’s Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science. This will contribute to wider intelligence about the substances circulating, supporting national early warning systems and public health responses. The service forms part of the drive to reduce drug-related deaths, alongside other interventions to improve health, wellbeing and access to support.

Services in Aberdeen and Dundee will follow in the coming months, with Edinburgh also working towards a site. Those sites, together with the national testing and research laboratory at the University of Dundee, will form a pilot backed by more than £1.7 million of Scottish Government funding.

Drugs Minister Maree Todd, who visited the service on its opening day, said:

"I welcome the opening of the site in Glasgow, which will provide vital information on the risks of emerging substances and help people make safer decisions and reduce drug harms. Scotland's illegal drug supply is increasingly unpredictable, including the presence of highly potent synthetic opioids such as nitazenes in a range of substances. This makes faster identification of emerging drug trends more important than ever.

“We have already worked with Glasgow partners to open the UK’s first Safer Drug Consumption Facility, which is undoubtedly saving lives. This service will complement that vital harm-reduction work. We must improve the early identification of emerging risks and I look forward to other sites opening and to the national laboratory providing potentially life-saving research and updates.

“We will also continue other efforts to reduce harms and deaths, including widening access to naloxone treatment and residential rehabilitation. Our new Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan, backed by record funding, will strengthen surveillance, deepen links between treatment, housing and other services, and target support at the communities most at risk.”

Glasgow City Convener for Homelessness and Addiction Services Councillor Allan Casey said:

“We are taking new and radical approaches to how we treat addiction.

“Now the drug-checking service is available, service users will be able to find out more about the drug they are taking and the risks associated with taking it. A very small sample is all that is needed. Alongside the testing process, people will receive personalised harm-reduction advice based on the substances identified, helping them make more informed decisions, reduce risks to their health and wellbeing and access wider support where needed.”

Background

Glasgow’s drug-checking facility will operate from Hunter Street - the same site as the UK's first official Safer Drug Consumption Facility.

The Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee will provide more complete analysis of samples of drugs, delivering vital information for the national early warning system and will enable services to respond faster to emerging trends. 

As per the licence criteria set by the Home Office, drug-checking services in Scotland will be restricted to people who are dependent on one or more illicit drug, as well as to those who are over 18. The service is therefore not intended as a general testing service for recreational drug use.

The pilot will be independently evaluated.