The move marks a major shift in UK drug policy and follows years of lobbying by campaigners who say that users should have the right to know what they are taking. The testing lab will allow revellers and drug users to submit pills, powders, and other substances to be analysed before use.

Public health experts have long warned that drugs such as cocaine and Ecstasy are frequently adulterated with hazardous additives – including powerful synthetic opioids like nitazenes – that greatly increase the risk of overdose.

Bristol already operates a drug-checking service, while Dundee, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen are seeking similar licences as part of a wider effort to reduce Scotland’s record-high drug-death rate, the worst in western Europe.

People using the Glasgow service will also receive harm-reduction advice alongside their results.

Separately, the Scottish government has announced that the University of Dundee will host a national drug-testing centre under a £1.5 million pilot scheme. The lab will analyse samples from local testing sites to detect emerging trends and identify new synthetic drugs entering circulation.

Maree Todd, the drugs and alcohol policy minister, said: “The University of Dundee has a strong reputation for forensic science and reaching this agreement, along with the licence approval for the first drug-checking site, are vital steps in our national mission on drugs.

“It is particularly important in light of the current dangers posed by new synthetic opioids like nitazenes, which raise the risk of overdose and death. Often people who use drugs are not aware of exactly what they contain.

“That is why we have consistently impressed upon the UK government the importance of giving drug-checking facilities the go-ahead.

“We will now work at pace with local partners in Glasgow and all the pilot cities to get these services up and running as soon as possible.”

Professor Niamh Nic Daéid, director of the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee, said: “We are very pleased to be able to support the Scottish government’s national mission to reduce drug-related deaths. The National Research and testing laboratory will provide information and research about the types of drugs circulating in Scotland that will inform colleagues and communities working to reduce drug deaths across the country.”