That the Parliament welcomes the announcement that Alcohol and Drugs Action (ADA) has submitted a Home Office licence application for a drug checking facility in Aberdeen, as part of the pilot Scottish Drug Checking Project; understands that the application, if successful, will allow support workers to use small testing machines to examine the contents of illicit substances locally to identify substances quicker and offer tailored advice, before samples are sent on for more in-depth analysis at a national testing laboratory; believes that this will also assist Public Health Scotland's surveillance of substances circulating around Scotland, allowing rapid response when new or harmful substances are found; considers that this facility would be a powerful tool in reducing drug-related harm, alongside existing measures such as the Naloxone programme, and hopes that the application is successful.
Supported by:
Karen Adam, Clare Adamson, Alasdair Allan, Colin Beattie, Stephanie Callaghan, Maggie Chapman, James Dornan, Jackie Dunbar, Annabelle Ewing, Kenneth Gibson, Emma Harper, Bill Kidd, Ben Macpherson, Ivan McKee, Stuart McMillan, Mark Ruskell, Paul Sweeney, Elena Whitham