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Support for more local areas to develop proposals for safer drug consumption facilities and the exploration of options to expand access to drug checking — which could include mobile units or postal services — have been promised by the Scottish government and local authorities.
The proposals are included in a number of commitments made in ‘Preventing harm, promoting recovery: Scotland’s alcohol & drugs strategic plan 2026 – 2035‘, published on 10 March 2026.
Scotland’s first safer drug consumption facility, The Thistle, was opened in Glasgow in January 2025. Service data published in January 2026 show that the service was used more than 10,000 times in the first year of its operation.
The strategy also says the Scottish government will ensure naloxone access “keeps up with changing demand in the context of emerging drug trends”. It also pledges to further expand distribution of the drug, including through community pharmacies.
A naloxone emergency supply service was introduced in 2023, which required every community pharmacy to stock an emergency supply of the drug.
Other commitments made in the strategy are to support continued research on harm reduction measures, including drugs to reverse benzodiazepine overdoses, and look at innovations such as wearable devices to monitor heart and breath rates. The strategy follows the Scottish government’s five-year National Mission on Drugs, which ends in April 2026.
Maree Todd, minister for drugs and alcohol policy, said: “We are already widening access to treatment, residential rehabilitation and life-saving naloxone, and Glasgow hosts the UK’s first Safer Drug Consumption Facility.
“As we respond to new challenges — including an increasingly toxic drugs supply — this plan refocuses our efforts in a more co-ordinated and sustainable way.”
Laura Wilson, director for Scotland at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “We are pleased that community pharmacists are rightly given strong recognition in the Scottish drug and alcohol plan, and that their vital role in preventing harm from drugs and alcohol is referenced.
“We welcome the initial steps Scottish government has taken, as referenced in the plan, particularly to expand the availability of naloxone within community pharmacies. This expansion must include widening access to naloxone, as outlined in our policy. In particular, we need to see naloxone being available from every community pharmacy for supply to more people who use drugs, family, healthcare professionals and carers. Naloxone should also be kept in first aid boxes for emergency use in any clinical setting, and staff trained to use it, where people who use drugs attend.
“We also welcome the establishment of drug consumption facilities as part of a holistic policy programme to tackle drug harm and deaths.
“We encourage Scottish government to work with us to progress some of our other recommendations; including providing access to patient records for pharmacists to enhance patient safety and manage patients’ transitions between care settings.”
