Scotland’s first official drug consumption room — which is set to open in October — is expected to be used by people within “a 10-minute walk”.

A safer drug consumption facility is being created on Hunter Street in Glasgow after Scotland’s Lord Advocate announced no one would be prosecuted for using drugs on the premises.

The centre — where there will be booths for up to eight people to inject drugs at any one time — is expected to open on Monday, October 21.

READ MORE: 'You can't put a price on saving lives': work starts on drug consumption room

During an update to the Safe Glasgow Partnership on Thursday, councillors were told the facility would operate from 9am to 9pm, 365 days a year.

Asked about access and transport options for users, an official said: “All the international evidence tells us that people won’t travel distances to a consumption room. Really we are looking at a ten-minute walk.

“This is ideally suited to Hunter Street because there’s a lot of public injecting, a lot of drug dealing.”

(Image: Supplied)

The partnership heard there is currently a “horrendous issue” with litter in the area.

The official added it would be “wonderful if people do travel further to the service” but the focus is on the Calton area, where people using drugs are “causing themselves a great deal of harm”.

Members of the partnership — which include councillors, police and fire chiefs — were also told how a large staff group, including social workers and addiction nurses, have been appointed.

READ MORE: Opening date for Glasgow's first drug consumption room

The facility will be located with Hunter Street Health and Care Centre alongside other services and is currently under construction.

As well as injecting booths, there will be a recovery area, chat rooms, a chill zone, a garden, treatment space and a shower.

A drug-checking service is being developed with the Scottish Government to give the “ability to test drugs prior to injecting them”. 

Campaigners had backed a safer drug consumption room pilot in the city, but the UK Government had been opposed. 

However, last year, Scotland’s Lord Advocate announced she would be “prepared to publish a prosecution policy that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute drug users for simple possession offences committed within a pilot safer drugs consumption facility”.

Last week, figures published by the National Records of Scotland showed that 1,172 people died as a result of drug use in 2023, up by 121 from 2022.