UK Launches 'Drug Consumption Room' for Addicts Stocked With Puzzles and Coloring Books

A legal drug consumption room—the first of its kind in the UK—opened its doors in Scotland Monday, hoping to provide a safe, supervised space for vulnerable drug users.

The Thistle, aimed at harm reduction in drug users, is officially serving the community in Glasgow's East End, operating 365 days a year from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The facility features eight injecting booths equipped with tilted mirrors, allowing nurses to discreetly monitor users. The lounge area is furnished with plush armchairs, double-sided bookcases filled with novels, puzzles, and mindfulness coloring books. Designed with the input of former addicts, the site also offers shower and laundry facilities, along with a covered outdoor smoking area.

In addition to a clean, safe environment, the Thistle intends to offer support for healthcare, housing, and benefits to reach those most marginalized by addiction.

"If you're going to engage the population we're trying to reach, this service has to be really different," Dr. Saket Priyadarshi, associate medical director of Glasgow's alcohol and drug recovery services, explained to The Guardian.

Despite resistance from the UK government, the three-year pilot was approved after Scotland's top legal official confirmed users would not face prosecution for using and possessing drugs on the premises. Glasgow city officials hope The Thistle will pave the way for similar harm-reduction initiatives across the UK, but critics are concerned that the facility de-prioritizes addiction recovery.

"These rooms communicate a devastating message: 'We don't believe you can get better,'" Annemarie Ward, CEO of Faces & Voices of Addiction Recovery said in a statement. Ward advocates for investing into rehabilitation centers and is doubtful of Thistle's claim to be a stepping stone to other services, given a lack of accessible recovery services in Glasgow. "There is nothing kind about offering people a place to continue destructive behaviors that keep them trapped in cycles of chaos, compulsion and despair."

"What we need to do, first and foremost, is keep those people alive," Allan Casey, the city council's addictions convener said of The Thistle's mission among the population it aims to serve.

Dr. Saket Priyadarshi, associate medical director of Glasgow's alcohol and drug recovery services, emphasized that The Thistle is not a "silver bullet" in tackling Scotland's ongoing drug crisis—the worst per capita in Europe with an average of three drug-related deaths each day. "It's another part of a system of care, another piece of the jigsaw responding to a very complex problem," Priyadarshi said.