FDS Insight Newsletter Oct-Dec 2020

27 issue rather than a criminal justice issue. On the idea of consumption rooms, the UK government responded that: ‘We want to do all we can to stop people having access to drugs that could ultimately kill them. No illegal drug- taking can be assumed to be safe and there is no safe way to take them.’ They added: ‘Our approach on drugs remains clear – we must prevent drug use in our communities, support people through treatment and recovery, and tackle the supply of illegal drugs.’ What are safe drug consumption facilities? Glasgow City Council has proposed allowing users to take their own drugs under the supervision of medical staff at a special facility in the city, but the idea has been blocked by the Home Office. Sometimes dubbed ‘fix rooms’, the aim would be to encourage users who inject heroin or cocaine on Glasgow’s streets to enter a safe and clean environment. It was hoped the scheme would encourage addicts into treatment, cut down on heroin needles on city streets and counter the spread of diseases such as HIV. Last week, a recovering heroin addict launched a drug consumption van in Glasgow despite warnings it could break the law. Peter Krykant said he hoped it would prevent overdoses and blood-borne viruses among drug users. The committee called for Scotland’s drugs crisis to be tackled as a public health issue The cross-party committee currently comprises chairman, SNP MP Pete Wishart, and includes five Conservatives, two Labour members, two Lib Dems and two other SNP MPs. Mr Wishart said this report, which was worked on by the committee when its membership was made up of MPs from the last parliament, was based on one of the most ‘extensive drugs inquiries in Scotland ever conducted’. Following the government’s response to the report, he said: ‘We are surprised and disappointed by the government’s almost wholesale rejection of recommendations by a Westminster Select Committee after collecting a substantial body of evidence from people with lived experience, charities and academics, as well as legal, criminal justice and health professionals…few of these will find comfort in this response.’ He also accused the government of providing little evidence to support its stance and called for what evidence there was to be made available following of a drug summit in February. He added: ‘What is evident is there’s little change in the government’s drugs