It’s a cold morning in east Glasgow and all Chris can think about is how quickly he can get his first fix.
He strides down the street waving a pin in the air as cars and vans drive through the residential area. The syringe is filled with brown liquid.
“20ml of heroin for £10,” he shouts, boasting that it took him less than ten minutes to get hold of.
A 41-year-old former painter and decorator, Chris tells how his nearly two-decade life of crime and drugs began after his mother was murdered in 2007. But it’s clear he’s distracted – and increasingly desperate. “I just have to get this in me,” he says, holding up the heroin.
He goes to a makeshift drug den in the corner of a supermarket parking lot. Buried deep in the bushes, it is strewn with blood-soaked needles and drug paraphernalia – one trip and there would be a serious risk of contracting a dangerous infection.
Chris doesn’t bat an eyelid. He sits on a broken kerosene jerry can covered in dirt and grime, his medicine-filled syringe clamped between his teeth as he pulls down his pants.
The drug den where Chris injects heroin
“It’s really disgusting to have to do this,” he cries, beckoning at the lack of dignity in this deeply personal moment.
He produces and pulls at the skin on his lower leg and groin, desperate to find an area to inject. Silence falls as the drugs enter his system.
Just a stone’s throw away, a new government facility is about to open, allowing addicts to bring their illegal drugs and take them under medical supervision without fear of arrest by the police.
Tea”safer substance use rooms‘, which will be the first of its kind in the UK, is how authorities are trying to tackle drug deaths and clean up the streets. It is set to open in the coming weeks.
The safer substance use room in Glasgow
Scotland has highest number of drug deaths in Europe. Last year, 1,172 people died due to drug abuse, according to National Records of Scotland data. This is an increase of 121, or 12%, compared to the previous 12 months.
Opioids – such as heroin – were involved in 80% of the deaths. And Glasgow is at the center of the epidemic.
Chris said his mother was murdered in 2007
‘No trust’
Officials believe the project could lure people like Chris away from the back alley and into a sanitized, clinical environment.
Chris speaks eloquently and passionately – and sometimes bluntly – about his life on the streets. Just two days before we met him for the second time, the tent he lives in was set on fire.
He is no saint – and does not pretend to be. Nicknamed “Macka”, he reveals he funds his £1,000-a-month drug habit by stealing from major retailers.
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But he is not yet convinced by the government’s plan.
“I guess if you’re in that area? Yes,” he says.
“But do people actually think it’s a trap? I don’t think there’s that level of trust.”
A controversial idea
Since 2016, when the idea of a safer drug use space in Glasgow was first mooted, there have been six Prime Ministers, three First Ministers, endless debate and more than 8,000 Scottish drug deaths.
It is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
But the idea is controversial – and not cheap. Up to £2.3m has been foreclosed each year for pilots in several Scottish cities, depending on Glasgow’s “success”.
This is a political decision and comes on the back of services being cut in other areas under pressured budgets.
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The big test will be whether or not the number of deaths decreases – and how this will work alongside law enforcement work.
Those opposed to the idea fear it could downplay the dangers of drugs while diverting vital resources away from treatment-based approaches.
The Home Office previously said there was “no safe way to take illegal drugs”.
But responding to concerns that the center could become a “magnet for crime” with drug dealers looking to take advantage of vulnerable people, NHS officials in Glasgow said: “The international evidence suggests that it is unlikely will happen if the service is well managed.”
For some people on the street, it may be too late.
I ask Chris if he ever considers whether this hit could be his last.
He replies, “To be honest friend, it would be a blessing. The way my life is right now, to die? Dying seems like a better life.”