![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-1695226510-1024x681.jpg\")
Gary Smith, a social worker at The Thistle, said that the biggest challenge the clinic has faced so far is bad press and misinformation over what happens there. | Andy Buchanan\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\nAfter users of the service have consumed drugs, some will recline in a reception-like area under supervision; others will want to chat. Some go out to the small back garden to smoke cigarettes. Their demeanor and activity levels normally depend on what drug they\u2019ve taken, staff say \u2014 usually heroin, cocaine or both.<\/p>\n
Gary Smith, a social worker at The Thistle, said it was the most rewarding work he\u2019s done as a social worker, adding that the biggest challenge the clinic has faced so far is bad press and misinformation over what happens there.<\/p>\n
Gary Smith, a social worker at The Thistle, said that the biggest challenge the clinic has faced so far is bad press and misinformation over what happens there. | Andy Buchanan\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Smith said they\u2019ve faced accusations of putting on taxis to bring drug users to the site or giving them free drugs. \u201cIt\u2019s a complete mistruth but we don’t really have a right of reply,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scotland has the greatest number of drug-related deaths in Europe, according to the most recent<\/a> data, although deaths are at record levels across all four U.K. nations. The U.K. as a whole accounts for 40 percent of combined EU-U.K. drug deaths<\/a> but just 15 percent of the combined population, according to estimates provided by drug reform charity Release, based on data compiled across the EU and U.K. in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n