Chamber and committees

But it was only two years ago that men

“were twice as likely to have a drug misuse death”.

Oh, I see.

Thank you very much.

Please do—that would be great.

Thank you.

I was interested in the fact that,

“In 2022, males were twice as likely to have a drug misuse death”.

That was only two years ago. Dr Fletcher, I have to say that I did not fully understand what you were saying about the changing pattern over the past five years, given that in 2022 men were

“twice as likely to have a drug misuse death”.

I agree that it is an exciting and important step to take to see what contribution safer consumption rooms can make. As a Glasgow member, I am obviously familiar with where the pilot is going to take place. Has there been any feedback from the local community? It strikes me that it really has to have the support of the local community, because if they do not feel safe where that is located, that could be a setback. Can you tell the committee anything about what engagement there has been with the local community? One thing that I am aware of and has been fed back to me by the local councillor is that there is some concern, and they think that the location is not great for public transport.

That is helpful. From one point of view, we can understand why clinicians in an A and E department would not admit someone who has an alcohol or drugs problem, even though they are desperate to get off alcohol or drugs, because they think that another service should be dealing with that issue. However, the problem is that people cannot just ring up a service and ask for a rehab bed. There seems to be a long gap between someone calling for help and their actually getting help.

I do not have any further questions. However, from what you have said, it is clear that duties of candour and honesty need to be applied to everyone, including witnesses and all the police officers who are involved in any investigation. The issue is how we do that. Presumably, when they go to court, they take the oath anyway, and it is meant to be perjury if you tell lies in court. However, that is more difficult law.

That is really helpful—thank you.

That is really helpful for our understanding. I am trying to relate what you are saying to the bill and to how the bill might help. You have explained really well what happened. Once things have kicked off, it is as if there is reaffirmation and more reaffirmation until the matter gets to the top. That seems like a cultural thing.