Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he does not believe drug consumption rooms can work, after a pilot programme was approved in Glasgow.
The city council backed the creation of the facility this week after years of legal wrangling was resolved by Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC earlier this month.
Scotland’s top law officer said it would not be “in the public interest” to prosecute people using such a service – which allows those who inject drugs to do so under medical supervision, as well as offering care that could aid them in their recovery from addiction.
Speaking to STV News in a pre-Conservative conference interview on Thursday, the Prime Minister backed comments made previously by Scottish Secretary Alister Jack that the UK Government would not seek to block the facility from opening.
Misnaming the Lord Advocate, the Prime Minister said: “No, that’s exactly as I said, we respect the independence of the advocate general in Scotland whilst… we disagree with the drug consumption rooms elsewhere because we think they condone illegal drug use, and that’s not something that we think is right.”
Asked if he believes such a measure will help the problem of drug addiction, Mr Sunak said: “We don’t, and we think they condone illegal use and that’s what they run the risk of doing.”
