Topic Three - how do psychoactive drugs work?
Motion: Drug consumption rooms should be available to everybody with an addiction problem
For...
Drug consumption rooms are a form of harm reduction. Harm reduction is important at all stages of the recovery journey. To be able to take drugs in a safe environment, especially if there is also some access to basic health care, is a significant step in preventing serious consequences and costs from drug use.
Against...
Providing drug users with a safe place to take drugs and some guidance on using may make motivating for change more difficult. The general public object to tax-payers money being spent on expensive units which are seen to encourage continued drug use and drug dealing around the facility.
Any discussion of substance use related harms begs the question ‘Can the harm be reduced?’ Harm reduction tends to be controversial because the balance between the benefits and the disadvantages is often unclear. Read the article cited below, which reviews the evidence for supervised injecting facilities and drug consumption rooms and see what general principles for judging a harm reduction strategy you can draw out.
Summary of key findings...
The researchers report on i) drug-related harms, ii) access to substance use treatment and other health services, iii) impact on the local drug injecting population, iv) impact on public drug use, drug-related crime and violence. There has not been a cost-effectiveness analysis.
Health outcomes from a 5yr perspective
A 35% decrease in ambulance attendances for opioid related problems (there was a general decrease in the area but not so marked). An increase from 38% to 61% experiencing an overdose, and a 7% increase in those injecting daily. 32% more engaged with drug treatment services and 40% more with primary health care. 48% were getting health care for the first time. 77% had at least one period of stopping injecting.
Community outcomes from a 5yr perspective
Witnessing injecting in the community was reported down from 33% to 19% by local residents and 38% to 28% for businesses. There was a corresponding reduction in discarded drug use paraphernalia but no reduction in the offers to buy street drugs.
Find the full text of the article here…
Tran V, Reid SE, Roxburgh A and Day CA (2021) Assessing Drug Consumption Rooms and Longer Term (5 Year) Impacts on Community and Clients. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy 14: 4639-4647 doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S244720
What are your own thoughts about injecting rooms? Can you think of some harm reduction strategies with minimal downsides?
