More drug addicts in Scotland could inject illegal drugs without fear of arrest under plans to open a shooting gallery in Edinburgh.
The outcome of a consultation on the plans, set to begin in April, is expected to be submitted to the Scottish Government as part of a business proposal. The Spittal Street and Cowgate areas have been singled out as potential sites.
In addition to city councillors’ approval of the plans, the Edinburgh safer drug consumption facility cannot open without the Lord Advocate’s declaring the facility to be a ‘prosecution-free zone’.
‘Indulgence’
Christine Laverty, Chief Officer of the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board, claimed that the Scottish Government would have to fully fund the centre due to financial constraints in the Edinburgh Alcohol and Drug Partnership’s budget.
But writing in The Herald, columnist John McLellan criticised the “principle of keeping people stupefied on drugs rather than getting them off”.
He stated that “until such times as there is a properly funded rehab programme, state-sponsored shooting galleries will be nothing more than a dangerous and expensive indulgence”.
Millions of pounds
Under the SNP’s new Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan, the Government has pledged ‘not to delay’ in opening more shooting galleries, as well as exploring other ‘harm reduction’ measures — such as distributing crack cocaine pipes to users for “safer inhalation”.
In Glasgow, The Thistle shooting gallery was used by 599 registered users with “over 8,300 injecting episodes” in its first full year of operation up to January 2026. The shooting gallery’s three-year pilot project is being funded by the Scottish Government at a cost of £2.3 million per annum to the taxpayer.
The SNP claims that the primary goal of safer drug consumption facilities is to prevent disease, infection, and fatal overdoses, while also reaching “people who might otherwise not engage” with services. But critics have highlighted that resources would be better spent on recovery services helping people to be drug free.
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