DRUG CONSUMPTION ROOMS
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With the UK ’ s first ever consumption room set to open later this year in Glasgow , an EMCDDA webinar explored the lessons learned from existing facilities across Europe – not least the ability to be flexible and adapt to new challenges
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We are at a moment of great danger for harm reduction ,’ director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction ( EMCDDA ) Alexis Goosdeel told delegates at the agency ’ s Drug consumption rooms in Europe – current practices and future scenarios webinar . The drug situation was rapidly changing , he said , with new risk behaviours and new potential harms . ‘ Our toolbox will need to change , just as the substances have changed . We can ’ t just repeat the same solutions – some of which we had a lot of difficulty agreeing on and applying .’
One threat to harm reduction programmes was unrealistic expectations , he warned , which meant that drug consumption rooms ( DCRs ) had to be part of an overall system – not just a single service . ‘ We need to be careful that we don ’ t pretend that DCRs on their own could solve all the problems related to substance use . That would be the best way to kill them and destroy their huge benefits .’
‘ DCRs cannot work in isolation ,’ agreed Roberto Perez Gayo , coordinator at the European Network of Drug Consumption Rooms . There were now more than 100 DCRs implemented in Europe , and they were constantly adapting to the changing needs and profiles of the people they worked with , alongside shifts in the drug market . Many were now offering spaces for smoking and facilities for people using stimulants , for example , rather than solely catering for people injecting opioids , and some were also integrating drug checking and sexual health services . Others were housed within mental health services , while the Woodstock facility in The Hague was located in a care home to provide services for older drug users .
BERN The first drug consumption room was implemented in Bern in 1986 , so there were decades of international experience to learn from , delegates heard . ‘ Our reference models were Switzerland and Canada , but they ’ re countries that are very different ,’ said director of harm reduction at the Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo , Ester Aranda , who had managed a consumption room in Barcelona . ‘ We can reproduce some programmes when we ’ re implementing a DCR , but we ’ re different in terms of cultural aspects .’
There had been four waves of DCRs in Barcelona , she said . ‘ Originally we had the DCR but we didn ’ t have the people to use it ,’ so the team had to design materials and implement strategies to attract them . There had also been rigid opening hours and no access for people showing signs of intoxication . ‘ You have to change the approach ,’ she stated .
‘ We ’ d been trying to open a DCR in the Czech Republic for 30 years ,’ said Viktor Mravčík , research director at Czech NGO Podane Ruce , which last year finally implemented the country ’ s first DCR – a mobile facility in Brno . ‘ It ’ s those national and local policies and circumstances that shape the design – not the other way around ’ he said . ‘ But evidence about how they ’ re designed , how they work , the outcomes and experiences of other colleagues are very important for those trying to start this kind of programme .’ His team had learned a great deal from facilities in Lisbon , he said , as well as Berlin , which had both stationary and mobile DCRs .
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