Today in the Chamber, we heard about the 2024 drug death statistics and the national mission to reduce these deaths.
While I recognise that the Thistle is being positioned as part of a harm reduction strategy, we cannot frame it as the solution to addiction. We were told it would open up positive pathways, offer wraparound support, and connect people into recovery. But that simply hasn’t happened. And the longer this goes on, the clearer it becomes that the focus has shifted.
When the Thistle opened, there was a barrage of media coverage. We were told about the life-changing opportunities it would bring. In an STV interview back in March, the service manager of the Thistle said there was “a lot they can offer”, that drug and alcohol services were just a phone call away. But at that time, not a single person had asked for help into recovery. They had asked for methadone. They had asked for heroin-assisted treatment. That was written off as “early days.” But we are now in September, and the result is the same.
Today, the Minister repeated that the Thistle’s core mission is harm reduction, with dignity at the centre. And yes, we absolutely must treat people with dignity, but harm reduction cannot be the endpoint. We cannot allow that to overshadow the central focus, which must be recovery.
We heard that over 4,000 injections have taken place inside the Thistle. Minister Maree Todd framed that as a success, saying that’s 4,000 injections not happening on the street. But that doesn’t reflect the reality I see.
The SNP spent £5,000 on just two needle bins. One of them is in the corner of a Morrisons car park, across the street from the Thistle. It’s hidden away - so hidden, in fact, that if you walk across that car park, what you actually see is more and more fresh needles, syringes, and drug paraphernalia.
Since the Thistle opened, I’ve visited the Calton roughly every six weeks. I’ve wanted to believe things would get better. But with every visit, it’s become more obvious: they haven’t. In fact, it’s only worsened. And the message from the Scottish Government doesn’t match what’s happening on the ground.
We’re being told that recovery is being accessed through this facility. On the Glasgow City Council website, there are meeting notes that suggest referrals have been made to housing, alcohol, and drug services. But through a Freedom of Information request, I found that to date, not one single referral to a recovery service has come through the Thistle. None.
When I challenged the Minister on this and asked her for a number, she couldn’t give me one.
It’s clear: services are being merged to give the impression that recovery is coming from the Thistle. But it’s not. And I can’t sit quietly while that narrative is pushed.
Yes, 56 medical emergencies have been treated at the Thistle - and of course, that’s a good thing. But we were told this facility would stop drug deaths. The statistics show that’s not true- and worse, they show we’re on track for things to deteriorate further in 2025.
We have to be honest about what’s happening here. The Thistle was never supposed to be just a harm reduction centre. It was voted through to save lives, to connect people into recovery. But that is not what it’s doing. And the longer we pretend otherwise, the longer we delay the change that’s desperately needed.
Minister Todd called for us to work together. And I would welcome that - but why then does she, and the SNP, continue to ignore the Right to Recovery Bill?
That Bill offers exactly what we need: a clear, centralised, national commitment to making recovery a legal right, something every person struggling with addiction can access, no matter where they live or who they are.
We cannot afford to get comfortable with harm reduction as the only option. We need ambition. We need urgency. And above all, we need to make sure recovery is not just available, but actively prioritised.
