A GLASGOW MP has launched a Private Members’ Bill to allow the city to set up a safe drug injection facility.

There needs to be a change in the law to allow the council and health board to set up the facility which would allow addicts to bring their own heroin to the centre.

Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central, where the facility would most likely be set up is trying to amend UK drugs law that would remove fear of prosecution for heroin addicts using the centre.

The council and health board want the centre to tackle rising rates of HIV and Hepatitis C among the drug injecting population, especially those taking drugs outdoors.

Ms Thewliss said: “The weight of evidence in support of a Safe Drugs Consumption Facility has never been more compelling.

“There are approximately 500 people actively injecting drugs in Glasgow City Centre, and recent reports describe the unprecedented HIV outbreak in the city as out of control. What’s more, I am greatly concerned for the safety of my constituents as a result of needles left in bin sheds, closes and back lanes.”

So far the UK Government is not willing to act to make the changes needed and the Home Secretary Amber Rudd has been invited by the council to come to the city to see the problem for herself.

Ms Thewliss added: “People are dying on the streets of my constituency, and the risk to the general public from discarded needles and transmission of blood borne diseases is very real. The only remaining barrier to doing something different is the Home Office’s unwillingness to grant an exemption.”