Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 4
3rd report - Problem drug use in Scotland follow-up: Glasgow’s Safer Drug Consumption Facility
Published 16 Sep 2025
Addressed to Scotland Office
Scottish Affairs Committee Problem drug use in Scotland follow-up: Glasgow’s Safer Drug Consumption Facility All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The current Lord Advocate’s statement of prosecution policy has been pivotal in enabling The Thistle to open. However, the Lord Advocate’s prosecutorial discretion is not a substitute for a considered legal framework to enable and regulate safer drug consumption facilities. The Thistle’s current legal position creates potential risks for people operating and using the facility. While the operators of The Thistle have reassured the Lord Advocate that the possibility for offences other than possession can be mitigated through strict standard operating procedures, only a full legal framework can offer certainty to the people who are operating and using the facility. (Conclusion, Paragraph 67)
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, 3rd report - Problem drug use in Scotland follow-up: Glasgow’s Safer Drug Consumption Facility (HC 630), 16 September 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 20 November 2025 (deadline 16 November 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "does not support drug consumption rooms" and has "no plans" to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to enable them, while committing to an evidence-based approach and to working with the Scottish Government.
- On tourniquets and safer inhalation pipes, the government says supplying them "would constitute a breach of the law" and it has "no plans to make legislative changes". It says any request for exemptions would be "a matter for the Lord Advocate".
- On drug checking, it says a Home Office licence for the Glasgow drug checking service was issued in October to the Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board. It states that The Thistle, which operates separately, is not covered by this licence.
- On evidence, the government says it is "committed to an evidence-based approach towards drug policy within the law". On the independent evaluation of The Thistle, it says it "will welcome any evidence that emerges" following the three-year pilot.
- It says it is "committed to working closely and positively with the Scottish Government", while recognising "differences in approach". It states the next UK Drugs Ministerial will take place in "early 2026".