The creation of “shooting galleries” for drug addicts in Dundee is among the ideas being considered by a newly formed commission set up to curb the number of deaths in the city.
Formally known as “safer injection facilities”, the centres allow drug addicts to legally use heroin and crack without fear of arrest.
The proposal was on the table yesterday as the Dundee Drug Misuse Commission gathered for its first meeting at Discovery Point.
Chairman Dr Robert Peat said the measure was “clearly having a positive effect in other countries” and that criticism would not stop the commission from recommending such a step if it found it to be in Dundee’s best interests.
Glasgow is in the process of trying to open the UK’s first safer injection site.
However, the move cannot currently go ahead as it would contravene the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act.
Dr Peat said the Dundee commission was watching events in Glasgow with interest.
He said: “Clearly, it’s having a positive impact in other countries. I think it’s something that we will be looking at carefully in Dundee.
“The fact that the UK drugs policy at the moment doesn’t allow that to happen won’t be something that will put a barrier in our way to recommending it.
“It’s clear a whole range of things haven’t been working. Everything has to be on the table.
“I think we have to look at that being something that actually could make a difference.
“What’s the harm in trying it?
“When we look at evidence from elsewhere, how can we ignore it if it’s having a positive impact?”
Dr Peat said he understood some people would not approve of the idea but insisted: “If it’s going to contribute to saving some people’s lives then it has to be looked at carefully.
“We have to be bold with our recommendations.”
People who use services, people with experience of drug use and family members will be asked to give evidence to the commission, alongside contributions from agencies and partners.
The panel, which features politicians, health professionals, consultants, and police and charity representatives, will meet regularly over the next year to try to come up with solutions for the city.
Dr Peat said one of the issued to emerge from the first meeting was that the various services in the city were “not working well together.”
“If that’s the case then it needs to change,” he said.
“In the main it’s public funding. So we need to make sure they adhere to what we will be presenting as good practice.
“We’ll respond to people and their needs. It’s not about what the service needs, it’s about what the individual needs.”
Statistics detailing drug deaths across the country are published annually by the National Records of Scotland with the next official figures set to be released in August this year.
Unofficial figures released earlier this month suggest the toll for last year could be as high as 72 — a record high and more than twice as many as in 2016.
