[Substance] consumption rooms: an overview of provision and evidence
Supervised… consumption facilities, where [currently] illicit drugs can be used under the supervision of trained staff, have been operating in Europe for the last three decades … A number of features are common to the majority of drug consumption facilities, irrespective of where they are located. For example, access is typically restricted to registered service users, and certain conditions, for example minimum age and local residency, have to be met. They usually operate from separate areas attached to existing facilities for drug users or homeless people, while some are stand-alone units. Most target [substance] injectors, though they increasingly include users who smoke or inhale [and in rare cases ingest substances].
Three models of… consumption rooms are operational in Europe: integrated, specialised and mobile facilities… consumption rooms are professionally supervised healthcare facilities where… [substance] users can consume… [substances] in safer conditions. They seek to attract hard-to-reach populations of users, especially marginalised groups and those who use on the streets or in other risky and unhygienic conditions. One of their primary goals is to reduce morbidity and mortality by providing a safe environment for more hygienic use and by training clients in safer use. At the same time, they seek to reduce… use in public and improve public amenity in areas surrounding urban drug markets. A further aim is to promote access to social, health and… treatment facilities. …consumption rooms initially evolved as a response to health and public order problems linked to open drug scenes and drug markets in cities where a network of drug services already existed, but where difficulties were encountered in responding to these problems… Facilities for supervised drug consumption tend to be located in settings that are experiencing problems of public use and targeted at sub-populations of users with limited opportunities… (e.g.) people who are homeless or living in insecure accommodation or shelters. In some cases clients who are more socially stable also use drug consumption rooms for a variety of reasons, for example because they live with non-using partners or families
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Original Article (EMCDDA Europa EU):
Drug consumption rooms: an overview of provision and evidence
Artwork Fair Use: Ljiljana Sundać