Scottish Officials Consider Exception to Public Smoking Ban for Supervised Crack Use
Scottish ministers are considering an exception to the public smoking ban to allow crack smoking in supervised facilities in Glasgow and Edinburgh. This may potentially include expanding the Thistle centre in Glasgow, which opened earlier this year for supervised heroin injection, to feature enclosed, ventilated booths for crack smokers.
Data indicates a shift from injecting heroin to smoking crack in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with smoking crack on the rise and cocaine often adulterated. Legal challenges include the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005, which enforces the public smoking ban, and the UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; to date, the Home Office has not amended these laws to enable such changes.
For this initiative to proceed, a statement of prosecution policy from the lord advocate would be necessary to prevent drug users from being charged for breaching the smoking ban inside the facility. While Edinburgh's health and social care partnership is developing a business case for a safe consumption facility and may consider harm-reduction options amid rising inhaled crack use, a decision there is still pending.
Maree Todd has stated that officials are collaborating with Glasgow City Council, Police Scotland, and the Crown Office to explore available options, though a final decision may take some time. The Crown Office has indicated that the lord advocate would consider extending the prosecution policy to cover crack smoking if a complete proposal is submitted, and a full response would follow with further details.
The Scottish Drugs Forum highlights that current laws create a double barrier to interventions addressing drug use and supports legislative changes to tackle rising crack use and drug-related deaths. Scotland currently has the worst drug-death rate in Europe, with cocaine implicated in about half of the fatalities.
