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Drug Consumption Rooms and Public Health Policy: Perspectives of Scottish Strategic Decision-Makers

There is widespread support for the introduction of Drug Consumption Rooms (DCRs) in Scotland as part of a policy response to record levels of drug-related harm. However, existing legal barriers are made more complex by the division of relevant powers between the UK and Scottish Governments. This pa...

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Autores principales: Nicholls, James, Livingston, Wulf, Perkins, Andy, Cairns, Beth, Foster, Rebecca, Trayner, Kirsten M. A., Sumnall, Harry R., Price, Tracey, Cairney, Paul, Dumbrell, Josh, Parkes, Tessa
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9180147/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35682161
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116575
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author Nicholls, James
Livingston, Wulf
Perkins, Andy
Cairns, Beth
Foster, Rebecca
Trayner, Kirsten M. A.
Sumnall, Harry R.
Price, Tracey
Cairney, Paul
Dumbrell, Josh
Parkes, Tessa
author_facet Nicholls, James
Livingston, Wulf
Perkins, Andy
Cairns, Beth
Foster, Rebecca
Trayner, Kirsten M. A.
Sumnall, Harry R.
Price, Tracey
Cairney, Paul
Dumbrell, Josh
Parkes, Tessa
author_sort Nicholls, James
collection PubMed
description There is widespread support for the introduction of Drug Consumption Rooms (DCRs) in Scotland as part of a policy response to record levels of drug-related harm. However, existing legal barriers are made more complex by the division of relevant powers between the UK and Scottish Governments. This paper reports on a national, qualitative study of key decision-makers in both local and national roles across Scotland. It explores views on the political barriers and enablers to the adoption of Drug Consumption Rooms and the potential role of these facilities in the wider treatment system. It also considers approaches to evidence, especially the types of evidence that are considered valuable in supporting decision-making in this area. The study found that Scottish decision-makers are strongly supportive of DCR adoption; however, they remain unclear as to the legal and political mechanisms that would make this possible. They view DCRs as part of a complex treatment and support system rather than a uniquely transformative intervention. They see the case for introduction as sufficient, on the basis of need and available evidence, thus adopting a pragmatic and iterative approach to evidence, in contrast to an appeal to traditional evidence hierarchies more commonly adopted by the UK Government.
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spelling pubmed-91801472022-06-10 Drug Consumption Rooms and Public Health Policy: Perspectives of Scottish Strategic Decision-Makers Nicholls, James Livingston, Wulf Perkins, Andy Cairns, Beth Foster, Rebecca Trayner, Kirsten M. A. Sumnall, Harry R. Price, Tracey Cairney, Paul Dumbrell, Josh Parkes, Tessa Int J Environ Res Public Health Article There is widespread support for the introduction of Drug Consumption Rooms (DCRs) in Scotland as part of a policy response to record levels of drug-related harm. However, existing legal barriers are made more complex by the division of relevant powers between the UK and Scottish Governments. This paper reports on a national, qualitative study of key decision-makers in both local and national roles across Scotland. It explores views on the political barriers and enablers to the adoption of Drug Consumption Rooms and the potential role of these facilities in the wider treatment system. It also considers approaches to evidence, especially the types of evidence that are considered valuable in supporting decision-making in this area. The study found that Scottish decision-makers are strongly supportive of DCR adoption; however, they remain unclear as to the legal and political mechanisms that would make this possible. They view DCRs as part of a complex treatment and support system rather than a uniquely transformative intervention. They see the case for introduction as sufficient, on the basis of need and available evidence, thus adopting a pragmatic and iterative approach to evidence, in contrast to an appeal to traditional evidence hierarchies more commonly adopted by the UK Government. MDPI 2022-05-27 /pmc/articles/PMC9180147/ /pubmed/35682161 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116575 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Nicholls, James
Livingston, Wulf
Perkins, Andy
Cairns, Beth
Foster, Rebecca
Trayner, Kirsten M. A.
Sumnall, Harry R.
Price, Tracey
Cairney, Paul
Dumbrell, Josh
Parkes, Tessa
Drug Consumption Rooms and Public Health Policy: Perspectives of Scottish Strategic Decision-Makers
title Drug Consumption Rooms and Public Health Policy: Perspectives of Scottish Strategic Decision-Makers
title_full Drug Consumption Rooms and Public Health Policy: Perspectives of Scottish Strategic Decision-Makers
title_fullStr Drug Consumption Rooms and Public Health Policy: Perspectives of Scottish Strategic Decision-Makers
title_full_unstemmed Drug Consumption Rooms and Public Health Policy: Perspectives of Scottish Strategic Decision-Makers
title_short Drug Consumption Rooms and Public Health Policy: Perspectives of Scottish Strategic Decision-Makers
title_sort drug consumption rooms and public health policy: perspectives of scottish strategic decision-makers
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9180147/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35682161
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116575
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