Drug consumption rooms may not be the best way to help addicts in Aberdeen, according to a leading drug and alcohol support service.
Fraser Hogan, chief executive of city-based Alcohol and Drug Action, said while the controversial plans have been approved in Glasgow, each city has specific needs.
A drug consumption room in the east end of Scotland’s biggest city was approved yesterday.
The facilities give drug users a safe environment where staff can offer support to help them quit.
Yesterday’s announcement came despite Scotland’s Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC saying “it was not in the public interest” to pursue drug users for use in such facilities.
Drug consumption rooms are not planned for Aberdeen
Drug-related deaths in the Granite City have fallen to their lowest level since 2014.
Fraser Hoggan from Aberdeen Alcohol and Drug Action said he would be watching what happens in Glasgow.
On BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Wednesday morning, he said: “There are very specific issues in Glasgow that they need to tackle they are not the same as they are in other cities in Scotland or towns for that matter.
“So we need to watch and see.
“There may be lessons that we can learn and adaptations that we can look at certainly.
“But we need to get a sense of how it will work first and get a sense quickly thereafter if that is what we need to do.”
An Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership (ACHSCP) spokesman said: “Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership is monitoring the latest legal guidance and notes the potential developments in Glasgow regarding the scheme there.
‘No current proposals’
“ACHSCP has no current proposals for an overdose prevention centre in the city.
“We recognise these facilities are an important public health measure that could potentially save lives and will be looking at the outcomes of the Glasgow pilot scheme to inform any such development locally.
“We would look to adapt any learning from the pilot to meet the needs of people in Aberdeen.
“Any such proposal would be subject to debate by the city’s Integration Joint Board.”
