Brighton council set to offer drug consumption rooms

[Vicky.]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/apr/14/brighton-drug-consumption-rooms

Brighton is set to be the first British city to offer official "drug consumption rooms" where addicts can use heroin, crack and cocaine under supervision without fear of prosecution. The city's public health leaders will meet this summer to "give serious consideration" to the plan in order to save lives.

What do we think of this?

Personally, I think its a good idea to try. People are never going to stop taking drugs..its a sad fact of life. So it gets them off our streets, and keeps them safer too.

[InOne]

Will the drugs be free?

[Vicky.]

I wouldnt think so :laugh:

More than 90 drug consumption rooms have been set up worldwide, including in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. They do not provide drugs to users but there is evidence that they allow health workers an opportunity to treat addicts.

Edit. No

[Josy]

Hmm how is that even possible though, the drugs are illegal?

[Jake.]

So what, they are allowed to walk in with their drugs and sniff away?

[Vicky.]

Hmm how is that even possible though, the drugs are illegal?
I'm not sure how they are going to get round that...

So what, they are allowed to walk in with their drugs and sniff away?

Yup, pretty much.

[Livia]

It's either against the law or its not. I don't see how a council can set up a special premises for the sole purpose of allowing people to break the law.

[Jake.]

:suspect:

[Niamh.]

I don't see how it could be a bad thing, I mean I doubt people are suddenly going to decide to try out Heroin just because they now have a room to do it in but would addicts really want to be in a supervised room though?

[Niamh.]

It's either against the law or its not. I don't see how a council can set up a special premises for the sole purpose of allowing people to break the law.

You should see their planned Kill Rooms

http://i50.tinypic.com/24yzkth.jpg

[arista]

It's either against the law or its not. I don't see how a council can set up a special premises for the sole purpose of allowing people to break the law.



They are the Crazy
Green party

[Ammi]

..so it would have to be like a neutrel zone then..?..can they do that...

[arista]

Hmm how is that even possible though, the drugs are illegal?

Green Council
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Admin/BkFill/Default_image_group/2013/4/13/1365851711472/A-young-addict-injects-hi-010.jpg

[Livia]

You should see their planned Kill Rooms

http://i50.tinypic.com/24yzkth.jpg

Cling film...Mmmmmmmmmm....

I know they're not going to encourage people, but this is actively enabling addicts. I think the money would be better spent on investing in effective rehab.

[Vicky.]

I think personal experience could possibly be clouding my judgement on this. When my little brother was about 5 or so..I took him to the park where we lived. And he very nearly fell on a needle that had been left there. I figure needles are less likely to be lying around if junkies have somewhere to shoot up rather than childrens parks/the streets/public toilets.

[Jack_]

Sounds like a good idea. Drug consumption is, at least with the current attitude towards it, inevitable. At the end of the day it's an individuals choice as to whether they wish to engage in that kind of practice, but I'd much rather them be doing it under supervision, it's safer for them and the rest of the community.

[arista]

I think personal experience could possibly be clouding my judgement on this. When my little brother was about 5 or so..I took him to the park where we lived. And he very nearly fell on a needle that had been left there. I figure needles are less likely to be lying around if junkies have somewhere to shoot up rather than childrens parks/the streets/public toilets.


Yes
Valid Point

[Ammi]

I think personal experience could possibly be clouding my judgement on this. When my little brother was about 5 or so..I took him to the park where we lived. And he very nearly fell on a needle that had been left there. I figure needles are less likely to be lying around if junkies have somewhere to shoot up rather than childrens parks/the streets/public toilets.

..yeah, I do agree with you Vicky but it's just how it could work because surely the police would raid it...

[Kizzy]

Hmmm, a freaky thought and it seems to me at least this could be the precursor for relaxation of current drugs policy.
Which I don't agree with btw... :)

[Livia]

I don't see how a council can be allowed to set up a special place where people can break the law.

[Mrluvaluva]

The Swiss have tried "heroin maintenance". They took the most addicted drug users they could find, people that had repeatedly failed treatment programs, and brought them to a clinic where they met with a doctor who examined them and gave them their dose of heroin. Soon a dose was found that satisfied their cravings but allowed them to function. They came to the clinic once or twice a day and shot up. After a year they evaluated the program. The results, according to World Health Organization* concluded:

(a) The health of participants improved.

(b) Illicit cocaine and heroin use declined greatly.

(c) The housing situation amongst addicts improved and stabilized- most importantly there were no longer any more homeless participants.

(d) Fitness for work improved considerably, those with permanent employment more than doubled from 14% to 32%.

(e) The number of unemployed fell by half (from 44% to 20%)

(f) A third of the patients that were on welfare, left the welfare rolls. But, others (dealers) went on to welfare to compensate for their lost income from sales of drugs.

(g) Income from illegal and semi-legal activities decreased significantly, from 69% of participants to 10%.

(h) The number of offenders and offenses decreased by about 60% during the first 6 months of treatment.

(i) The retention rate was average for treatment programs. 89% over 6 months, and 69% over 18 months.

(j) More than half of the dropouts did so to switch to another form of treatment. 83 of the participants did so to switch to an abstinence-based treatment, and it is expected that this number will grow as the duration of individual treatment increases.

(k) There were no overdoses from drugs prescribed by the program.

It does therefore sound like quite a positive step. It will also put a stop to harmful batches of home made drugs being sold that could lead to fatalities.

[Redway]

As liberal as I am with regards to drugs (:tongue:), I don't really see how it would work...yes, it's an individual's choice as to what they choose to do with themselves and all but why should Brighton be an exception to the law? I'd rather they were kept illegal for all in this country or decriminalised.

Although I agree that they're better off the streets.

[Mrluvaluva]

I don't think drugs should ever be legalised (especially Class A). Legalisation would cause enough of it's own problems. In the same way I would not ever say prostitution should ever be made legal. It will always exist though, and is better happening in a controlled and protective environment.

Drug use (misuse) will never be eradicated, and of course although drug users will have somewhere neutral to go to partake in their past time, this does not make them exonerate from crimes like possession etc. It will inevitably lead to the police gaining more intelligence anyhow, so it works in the states favour. I think there is method in what some people may see as madness.

[Ramsay]

Should just do Hamsterdam tbh

[Me. I Am Salman]

Should just do Hamsterdam tbh

Should not just take drugs at all.

[Ramsay]

Easier said than done..in the perfect world there would be no drugs whatsoever and everyone would be safe but unfortunately they will always be available

[joeysteele]

It sounds a reasonable idea to me.

[Redway]

Should not just take drugs at all.

It's not as easy as that though...some people take them because of genuine hardships and want an 'escape'. Not every user is capable of making a reasonable choice in each situation.

[Z]

Interesting idea... as others have said, not really sure how this would ever be allowed, legally? I think it's a good idea though, thanks for posting the results from the Swiss example Mrluvaluva, made for interesting reading.

[Jords]

Maybe a good idea for slow recovering.

[Jake.]

^^