Resolution: Safe injecting facilities

This resolution passed.

Members can view a recording of the debate here.

Drugs-related deaths are preventable. Yet across the UK, drug-related deaths have been rising for the past decade (Office for National Statistics, 2021). In Scotland, particularly high numbers of drugs-related deaths have prompted the Scottish Government to support the introduction of safer injecting facilities (Scottish Parliament, 2018). As the legal framework relating to the misuse of drugs is reserved to the UK Government, (HM Government, 2021) the Scottish Government is seeking to overcome legal barriers to enable this (Scottish Parliament, 2021). However, the UK Government has opposed calls to introduce the legislative changes needed to support the trial or roll out of these facilities in Scotland (UK Government, 2020).

In Northern Ireland, the chief medical officer has indicated his support for investigating the use of consumption rooms or safe injecting sites, whilst stressing that this will ultimately be a decision for the health minister. The British Medical Association in Northern Ireland has stated its support for the introduction of a wider range of evidence-based interventions, including supervised consumption rooms, as part of a strategy to: “prioritise treatment and support over criminalisation and punishment”. There are also no medically supervised injecting centres (MSICs) in Wales, at present. However, many charities in Wales and South Wales Police have stated their support for this proposal.

Safer injecting facilities (also called supervised injecting facilities, safer injecting spaces, drug consumption rooms, overdose prevention centres, or harm reduction facilities) are medically supervised facilities where individuals can consume their own drugs, supervised by trained staff who can intervene to prevent overdose (Faculty of Public Health, 2021).

Such facilities already exist around the world in different forms, including in Europe (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2018), North America (City of New York, 2021), and Australia (State of Victoria Medically Supervised Injecting Room Review Panel, 2020). In Scotland (Glasgow City Council, 2019) and England (BBC News, 2021), two heroin assisted treatment services exist where people are prescribed diamorphine and inject themselves in a safe, sterile space (Transform, no date).

Evidence shows that these facilities have been effective in reducing drug-related deaths (Drig Science, no date) by engaging people who use drugs with services, reducing harm such as becoming infected with a blood borne virus (Marshall, 2011), and reducing antisocial behaviour and encounters with the police (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2018).

However, there remains concerns about the operational measures and governance needed to ensure the safety of nursing staff working in these facilities and the importance of strong links with addiction and emergency services. There are also concerns about wider issues relating to funding and underinvestment in drug addiction and treatment services.

Reading lists for each agenda item can be found here.

References

BBC News (2021) Middlesbrough heroin addiction clinic extension a ‘no brainer’, 9 December. Available at: www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-59591133  (Accessed 21 April 2022).

City of New York (2021) Mayor de Blasio announces nation’s first overdose prevention center services to open in New York City. Available at: www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/793-21/mayor-de-blasio-nation-s-first-overdose-prevention-center-services-open-new-york  (Accessed 21 April 2022).

Drug Science (no date) Supervised injection facility (SIF). Available at: www.drugscience.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/SIF.pdf (Accessed 21 April 2022).

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (2018) Drug consumption rooms: an overview of provision and evidence. Available at: www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/2734/POD_Drug%20consumption%20rooms.pdf (Accessed 21 April 2022). 

Faculty of Public Health (2021) A call to pilot overdose prevention centres (supervised injecting facilities) in the UK. Available at: https://news.rcpsg.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/A-call-to-pilot-Overdose-Prevention-Centres-Supervised-Injecting-Facilities-in-the-UK.pdf?msclkid=7ceebfc7b42f11ecbb8b14a333b7fcfc (Accessed 21 April 2022).

Glasgow City Council (2019) Scotland’s first heroin assisted treatment unveiled.  Available at: www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/25326/Scotlands-First-Heroin-Assisted-Treatment-Unveiled?msclkid=4d43bbfdb4b011ecaa03f20eb7a4f764 (Accessed 21 April 2022).

HM Government (2021) From harm to hope. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1043484/From_harm_to_hope_PDF.pdf (Accessed 21 April 2022). 

Marshall B D, Milloy M-J, Wood E, Montaner J S and Kerr T (2011) Reduction in overdose mortality after the opening of North America’s first medically supervised safer injecting facility: a retrospective population-based study, The Lancet, 377(9775), pp. 1429–1437.

Office for National Statistics (2021) Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales: 2020 registrations. Available at: www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoninginenglandandwales/2020?msclkid=51b23c31b42311eca687ed03544d27ff (Accessed 21 April 2022).

Scottish Parliament (2018) Meeting of the Parliament 19 April 2018 (official report). Available at: https://archive2021.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=11468  (Accessed 21 April 2022).

Scottish Parliament (2021) Meeting of the Parliament (hybrid) 11th November 2021 (official report). Available at: www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-11-11-2021?meeting=13397&iob=121616 (Accessed 21 April 2022).

State of Victoria Medically Supervised Injecting Room Review Panel (2020) Review of the medically supervised injecting room. Available at:
www.health.vic.gov.au/publications/medically-supervised-injecting-room-trial-review-panel-full-report (Accessed 21 April 2022).

Transform (no date) Heroin assisted treatment. Available at: https://transformdrugs.org/drug-policy/uk-drug-policy/heroin-assisted-treatment?msclkid=7b3731bbb4b011ecb3f10e1101a9ba88 (Accessed 21 April 2022).

UK Government (2020) Problem drug use in Scotland: government response to the Committee’s first report of session 2019. Available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5801/cmselect/cmscotaf/698/69802.htm  (Accessed 21 April 2022).