The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction said there was an “increasing awareness” of the potential of such State-backed facilities to reduce harms to communities affected.
In a major report, Health and Social Responses to Drug Problems, the centre said it was important to consult and engage with communities where drug consumption rooms are to be located.
The findings come as the HSE, in consultation with the Department of Health, considers applications for the country’s first supervised injecting centre for Dublin.
The pilot facility — the result of a landmark shift in Government policy — is expected to be located in the south or north inner city, where much of the public injecting problem is located.
The legality of the centre, initially expected to open by the end of this year, is provided for under the Misuse of Drugs (Supervised Injecting Facilities) Act 2017, signed into law last May.
In its report, the European Monitoring Centre states: “Drug consumption rooms, sometimes known as supervised injecting facilities, can have benefits for communities as well as for people who inject drugs.
“There is evidence that they are effective at reducing harms to the local community, for example, from drug litter and public nuisance, as well as reducing the risks of overdose and infection among individuals who inject drugs.”
Source: Cormac O'Keeffe, The Irish Examiner, 31/10/17
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