I've been fortunate to have been given access to photograph at the two Drug Consumption Rooms in Australia, the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) which has been running for over 17 years, and the recently opened Melbourne Medically Supervised Injecting Room (MSIR). Most of the photos I've been taking are of the staff and the facilities at the projects... but I'd like to describe the photo I didn't take.
Pregabalin is a medication used for seizures, anxiety and neuropathic pain. It is also known by a brand name Lrica® and various street names. In recent years it’s use has become prolific across Northern Ireland is also seen in other parts of the UK among heroin users and the prison population. It is involved in ever more fatal overdoses in these groups/region.
I’m writing a conference presentation at the moment, the topic is the need for safer spaces to use drugs in the UK. As part of the research for it I spent a day this week walking around Birmingham with my camera. I think it’s very easy for drug workers to lose sight of the situations people are forced into when using drugs. Seeing where some people are injecting really makes it clear that we need a real push to get drug consumption rooms started. (PLEASE NOTE: this article contains images that may be upsetting for some people).
The latter half of 2016 saw increased interest and positive development with regard to the introduction of Safer Injecting Facilities (SIF) in both Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. Whether or not this interest proves to be yet another false policy promise in the progress of UK harm reduction remains to be seen. However, during this period of potential development, I couldn't help but notice that advocates of SIF stated that such facilities would aim to reduce local levels of 'public injecting' and assist with 'removing drug-use from the street'.
Durham police will give addicts heroin to inject in 'shooting galleries'
The police force is set to become the first in England to implement an approach pioneered in Switzerland and credited with achieving positive results in a number of European countries but unlikely to attract much domestic political support.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is a United Nations body monitoring how states implement international drug-control conventions. In its annual report, which was presented yesterday in Berlin, the INCB analyzes the state of global drug use and provides a number of recommendations to help countries take control of drug issues among its citizens. This year's report focused especially on drug use among women and girls, which over the past few years has increased much more than drug use among men.
Non-structured interventions, including the provision of safer injecting advice, access to clean injecting equipment, and immunisation programmes, should be priorities for investment, and new initiatives such as drug consumption rooms should be developed to ensure we are able to attract drug users into treatment and protect them when they are not.
Opening a supervised injection facility for people who inject drugs could save millions
For the first time, researchers have determined the potential cost and benefits of opening a supervised injection facility for people who inject drugs in the United States. The study, released today, found that a single facility in San Francisco could generate $3.5 million in savings.
We have just seen the highest drug related deaths figures ever; these figures record deaths from drug poisoning, but services providers know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is an alarming increase in the numbers of people dying in treatment as a result of chronic ill health.
The lack of harm reduction measures for people who use drugs in UK prisons is fuelling health problems, including the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases. It’s time to introduce needle and syringe programmes.
On a recent trip to the US Emily got the chance to talk to Allan Clear about his role as Executive Director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, or as she puts it "the boss of the bosses".