Edinburgh identifies two potential sites for new drug consumption room

Officials at the City of Edinburgh Council have identified two sites for a potential new safer drug consumption room.

A report released by the city's Integration Joint Board (IJB) revealed the facility could open on the Cowgate or on Spittal Street, both in the Scottish capital's Old Town. The IJB said it would design a consultation to garner the views of locals on the proposals.

The UK's first safer drug consumption facility (SDCF) - The Thistle - opened in Glasgow in January and allows users to be able to consume drugs under supervision in a clean and hygienic environment. The proposed Edinburgh facility, according to the report, would be located either in the same building as, or very near to, a homeless day centre or service providing treatment for drug addiction.

The IJB said in the past three years, there had been 36 drug-related deaths within a 15-minute walk of Spittal Street and 34 in the same distance from the Cowgate. It is not yet possible to estimate the cost of the project until a final site is identified.

The consultation, which will likely be held early next year, would inform a business case for the facility to be put to the Scottish government for final approval. IJB chief officer Christine Laverty wrote: "Such a public consultation will attract substantial attention and raise both hopes and fears within different communities." Read more:Living beside the UK's first drug consumption roomDigger mobilised to clean up drugs den near The Thistle The initial consumption room in Glasgow faced an uphill political struggle over a decade before it was open, with the UK government refusing to provide a waiver to the Misuse of Drugs Act which would ensure users would not be criminalised.

It was only when Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC said it would not be in the public interest to prosecute service users that the path was cleared for The Thistle to open. A total of 377 people (305 men and 72 women) have made 5,299 visits to the facility up to 25 July.

According to the latest figures, there have been 3,554 injecting episodes and 48 medical emergencies. Speaking last month about some of the medical emergencies, drugs minister Maree Todd said: "People would definitely have died if they had not been in that unit.".