The Thistle drug consumption room in Glasgow played a ‘small but significant’ role in reducing drug harm, a new report has found, with a checking service to be introduced aimed at further preventing deaths.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS), which provides independent scrutiny of both Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority, has issued a review of how the force handles drug harm reduction, with Scotland having the highest death rate in Europe.
As part of the review, HMICS looked at the early impact of The Thistle, which was opened in Hunter Street in Glasgow in January 2025, with Police Scotland “involved throughout the development journey”.
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As noted in the report, the facility marks a “significant departure from traditional enforcement-led approaches”, with officers not targeting individuals using the facility and avoiding routing high-visibility patrols in the area so as not to deter people while still responding to reports of criminal activity.
Inspectors found there were “strong working relationships between local police officers and staff at the facility”, concluding that The Thistle played a “small but significant” role in reducing drug-related harm in Scotland.
Up to the end of October this year around 500 individuals had used the facility, with more than 5,550 injections of heroin or cocaine recorded, the latter being more prevalent.
There had been 69 medical emergencies, with all the individuals recovering either at the facility or in hospital.
It was announced in October that a drug checking service at the facility to check for contaminants had been approved by the Home Office, with Dundee, Edinburgh and Aberdeen also submitting applications.
The University of Dundee will host a national drug-testing centre, which will be operated by the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science and will analyse drug samples from the city drug checking sites to help respond to emerging drug threats and trends, including dangerous and toxic synthetic opioids.
The aim is to “inform and support harm reduction efforts and potentially reduce drug-related deaths”.
More broadly, the report called on Police Scotland to make clear its policy on drug harm reduction, with a “lack of clarity” on how the force intended to strike a balance between a public health approach to reducing drug related harm and traditional criminal justice methods.
Officers are taught enforcement-led practices at the Scottish Police College, with training still guided by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
That can conflict with public health principles and can lead to confusion about what a public health approach entails in practice, the report found.
HMICS found there was a “lack of clear operational guidance in place for officers” about how their work contributes to a public health based approach, with the term not well understood on the frontlines.
The force has no published strategy on drug harm reduction, which inspectors found led to local divisions developing their own approaches which “lack overall consistency and co-ordination” and “risk being fragmented and reactive rather than strategic and co-ordinated”.
However, local and national partner organisations did report a “significant and positive shift in police culture” pertaining to drug users, with Police Scotland having taken “meaningful steps” to reduce stigma.
All divisions in Scotland are now provided with naloxone, a drug to reverse opioid overdoses, and over 900 administrations have been carried out so far “which showed the initiative had saved lives”.
HMICS made seven recommendations to Police Scotland to define its purpose within a public health approach.
The first is to publish a clear policy on drug harm reduction, ensuring it is accessible to officers, staff and partner agencies.
In addition, Police Scotland should take a more active role in identifying and sharing learning and good practice to promote consistency across divisions, and update intranet pages to ensure officers and staff receive timely updates on important developments to support their work in drug harm reduction.
The force “should define its role and purpose in supporting the public health approach to drug harm prevention, and provide guidance to police officers on how to balance this with enforcement responsibilities”
Recommendation four called on Police Scotland to “establish a mechanism to review and evaluate the effectiveness and benefits of its involvement in Alcohol and Drug Partnerships – and share findings with officers and staff”.
HMICS further said the force should “assess the benefits of police officer participation in partnership initiatives”, with recommendation six calling on it to “improve communication and co-ordination between specialist units and frontline policing teams through regular briefings and enhanced intelligence sharing” where appropriate.
Finally, Police Scotland should establish outcome measures and targets for drug harm prevention, and monitor performance against these to track progress, evaluate operational activities and demonstrate impact.
Assistant chief constable Catriona Paton said: “We welcome this report which highlights our positive work with alcohol and drug partnerships and support for local prevention, intervention and recovery initiatives that help reduce drug harm within our communities.
“The illegal consumption of drugs has a devastating impact and we have the deepest sympathy for those affected. We work closely with partners to share information on drugs trends, emerging threats and intelligence so they can provide swift intervention and support to communities as part of a multiagency public health approach to drugs harm.
“In addition, all our officers are equipped with Naloxone, an emergency first aid response to drug overdose, which has been administered almost 1000 times since it was introduced, potentially saving many lives.
“However our primary role is always to enforce the law. Officers work tirelessly to remove illegal drugs from communities and share intelligence with national and international law enforcement agencies aimed at disrupting the activities of organised criminals who profit from the harm caused.
“The recommendations contained within this report will be used to further inform policy and guidance for officers in support of prevention and operational delivery in this complex area.”