Glasgow health chiefs to make case for space to smoke drugs at drug consumption room

Health chiefs in Glasgow are planning to make the case for a smoking space to be added to the city’s drug consumption room .

The Thistle , a three-year pilot facility which provides a supervised area for injecting drugs, opened on Hunter Street in January.

Officials involved in the project say it has “become evident” that a smoking/inhalation space is “critical in order to realise the full benefit” of the facility .

Since the Thistle opened, cocaine has been reported as 67% of substances injected. There is anecdotal evidence of “a shift to smoking/inhalation of drugs, particularly cocaine”, officials add.

Members of the city’s integration joint board (IJB) — which oversees health and social care services — will be asked to approve the development of a business case for an inhalat