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Irland. Mobile injecting centre could ‘get ball rolling’ amid continued delays to Dublin site, doctor says

Mobile injecting centres could "get the ball rolling" on a much-needed service while addressing locals' concerns about a planned permanent site, a specialist has said. (newstalk, Irland, 16.06.2021)

https://www.newstalk.com/news/mobile-injecting-centres-could-get-ball-rolling-amid-continued-delays-to-dublin-site-doctor-says-1211250

Irland. GP: Legislation is now four years old but Ireland is still without its first drug injecting centre

Dr Garrett McGovern says there’s no excuse not to have injecting centres by now. (The Journal, Irland, 15.06.2021)

https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/drug-use-in-ireland-5462976-Jun2021/

Australien. After furious debate, Melbourne council votes to support safe-injecting room in CBD

A motion by councillor Roshena Campbell – a senior Liberal party figure – opposing a safe-injecting room anywhere in the city was narrowly defeated, while a second vote on a council management report that recommended supporting a Victorian government service was successful. (SMH – Sydney Morning Herald, Australien, 25.05.2021)

https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/after-furious-debate-melbourne-council-votes-to-support-safe-injecting-room-in-cbd-20210525-p57v46.html

International Network of Drug Consumption Rooms

The International Network of Drug Consumption Rooms is a platform where the latest information and scientific evidence can shared, experiences can be discussed, advocacy initiatives can be supported, and the policies and field practices can be shared among professionals and organisations working in or around Drug Consumption Rooms. (Stand Mai 2021)

http://www.drugconsumptionroom-international.org

Australien. ‘Game changer’ treatment cuts heroin use

An opioid treatment being introduced around Australia has been dubbed a game changer after dozens of users at Melbourne’s safe injecting room stopped taking heroin.

The Richmond site was among the first in Australia to provide depot buprenorphine, a slow-release injection given weekly or monthly, outside clinical trials after it was approved for use in September 2019. (Sydney Morning Herald, Australien, 10.05.2021)

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/game-changer-treatment-cuts-heroin-use-20210505-p57p2i.html

Schottland. Why I decided to run the UK’s first drug consumption van

After overcoming my own trauma, I cannot stand back and allow governments to be complicit in allowing people to die. (Peter Krykant, The Guardian, UK, 30.04.2021)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/30/uk-first-drug-consumption-van

Australien. ‘The last brave thing that happened’: How the injecting room led the way on drug reform

The Kings Cross injecting room’s first medical director said she doubts the centre would have opened in today’s political environment as it was “the last brave thing that happened” in drug reform.

The injecting room arose out of the Drug Summit held after the 1999 state election and former premier Bob Carr, whose government gave it the green light, said it was “an interesting example of media campaign elevating an issue onto the public agenda”. (Sydney Morning Herald, Australien, 05.05.2021)

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-last-brave-thing-that-happened-how-the-injecting-room-led-the-way-on-drug-reform-20210427-p57msu.html

USA. America’s Forgotten History of Supervised Opioid Injection

Facilities that would allow people to openly use opioids are igniting controversy today, but were once widespread. (UNDARK, USA, 29.04.2021)

https://undark.org/2021/04/29/forgotten-history-supervised-injection/

California Senate OKs supervised sites for drug users

Instead of putting opioid-users in jail, a proposal moving through the California Legislature would give them a place to inject drugs while trained staff watch them to make sure they don’t die from accidental overdoses. (AP, 23.04.2021)

https://apnews.com/article/health-government-and-politics-california-9376cd8ac6659434c54c16773235649a

Münster/Wstf. 20 Jahre Drogenkonsumraum des Vereins „Indro“ - Hilfeleistung ohne die befürchteten Nebenwirkungen 

Der Konsumraum des Drogenhilfevereins „Indro“ an der Ostseite des Bahnhofs am Bremer Platz besteht seit 20 Jahren. Die Bilanz der Verantwortlichen fällt nach zwei Jahrzehnten durchaus positiv aus. Verbunden mit einer klaren Forderung an die Politik. (Westfälische Nachrichten, 11.04.2021)

https://www.wn.de/Muenster/4400743-20-Jahre-Drogenkonsumraum-des-Vereins-Indro-Hilfeleistung-ohne-die-befuerchteten-Nebenwirkungen

Europa. Drug deaths: Can Scotland learn from Germany?

Drug consumption rooms allow addicts to use safely. In Germany, they’re common; but in Scotland — Europe’s drug death capital — progress is painfully slow. (Deutsche Welle, 18.04.2021)

https://www.dw.com/en/drug-deaths-can-scotland-learn-from-germany/a-57180070

The Impact of Supervised Consumption Services on Fentanyl-related Deaths: Lessons Learned from Alberta's Provincial Data. 

Marshall T, Abba-Aji A, Tanguay R, Greenshaw AJ. 

Can J Psychiatry. 2021 Mar 19:706743721999571. doi: 10.1177/0706743721999571. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33739168.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0706743721999571

Australien. ‘It saves lives’: Government stands firm on location of Richmond injecting room

Acting Premier James Merlino has stood by the decision to run a safe injecting room next to a primary school in Richmond after emotional parents addressed a residents’ meeting on Wednesday night. (The Age, Australien, 25.03.2021)

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/it-saves-lives-government-stands-firm-on-location-of-richmond-injecting-room-20210325-p57dxl.html

Berlin. Virtueller Rundgang durch die Birkenstube

http://harmreduction.ndc-euro2020.de/

 

USA. Will Rhode Island Be the First State to Legalize Safe Consumption Sites?

The prospect of safe consumption sites (SCS) for mitigating the United States’ historic overdose death toll has long been delayed by the federal obstruction of a Philadelphia-based organization’s bid to open the first sanctioned site. Now, hope may be found a few states over: Rhode Island, where residents are witnessing an exacerbated fatal overdose crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Filter, USA, 01.03.2021)

https://filtermag.org/rhode-island-first-safe-consumption-sites/

Schottland. Medical experts call for 'safe' drug consumption rooms

Scotland should introduce "safe consumption rooms" to tackle a record number of drug deaths, senior medical professionals have said.

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) wants the Scottish and UK governments to seriously consider decriminalising drug possession. (BBC, 02.03.2021)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-56239222

Schweiz. Churs offene Drogenszene: «Wir sind wie Ameisen» 

Im Stadtpark Chur hat sich eine offene Drogenszene etabliert. PolitikerInnen und Fachleute fordern daher einen Konsumraum, wie ihn andere Städte seit langem haben. Das wäre Sache der Kantonsregierung. Diese aber schläft seit Jahren. (WoZ – WochenZeitung, Schweiz, Nr. 08/2021 vom 25.02.2021) 

https://www.woz.ch/2108/churs-offene-drogenszene/wir-sind-wie-ameisen

UK. Peter Krykant & UK drug consumption rooms – is their time finally here?

(emerald publishing, UK, 12.02.2021)

https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/topics/healthier-lives/blog/peter-krykant-uk-drug-consumption-rooms-their-time-finally-here

Slowenien. The fight for a Drug Consumption Room in Slovenia

n Slovenia, we still don’t have official DCR. Initial ideas of opening DCR in Ljubljana date from the middle of 90s. In 2004 NGO Stigma filed an official application for opening drug consumption room to the Governmental Office for Drugs, who unfortunately did not materialise the idea at the time. (correlation-net.org, Niederlande, 03.02.2021)

https://www.correlation-net.org/the-fight-for-a-drug-consumption-room-in-slovenia/

Schottland. Scots drugs crusader upgrades mobile overdose prevention centre with new ambulance

Peter Krykant believes the more professional vehicle will be a big step towards properly funded, state-backed services. (Daily Record, Schottland, 23.01.2021)

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-drugs-crusader-upgrades-mobile-23369572

Schottland. Drugs activist Peter Krykant won't be charged over overdose prevention van

The Crown Office has told Peter Krykant he will not face court action after he refused to accept a caution relating to the running of his drugs van in Glasgow. (Daily Record, Schottland, 20.01.2021)

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/drugs-activist-peter-krykant-wont-23348736.amp

USA. Appellate Court Agrees with Government that Supervised Injection Sites are Illegal under Federal Law; Reverses District Court Ruling 

In a precedential opinion, the Third Circuit ruled yesterday that it is a federal crime to open a supervised injection site or “consumption room” for illegal drug use.  Local nonprofit Safehouse planned to open the nation’s first such consumption room in the City of Philadelphia, where individuals would be invited to inject heroin and use other drugs under supervision.  But the Third Circuit ruled that doing so “will break the law” because Safehouse knows and intends that visitors to its consumption room will have a significant purpose of using illegal drugs.  In agreeing with the government’s interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act, the Court explained that, “[t]hough the opioid crisis may call for innovative solutions, local innovations may not break federal law.” (The United States Department of Justice, 13.01.2021)

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/appellate-court-agrees-government-supervised-injection-sites-are-illegal-under-federal-law

Peer-assisted injection as a harm reduction measure in a supervised consumption service: a qualitative study of client experiences. 

Pijl, E., Oosterbroek, T., Motz, T. et al. 

Harm Reduct J 18, 5 (2021). doi.org/10.1186/s12954-020-00455-3

https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-020-00455-3

A critical narrative inquiry to understand the impacts of an overdose prevention site on the lives of site users. 

Oudshoorn, A., Sangster Bouck, M., McCann, M. et al. 

Harm Reduct J 18, 6 (2021). doi.org/10.1186/s12954-020-00458-0

https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-020-00458-0

Implementation and evaluation of an educational intervention for safer injection in people who inject drugs in Europe: a multi-country mixed-methods study. 

Roux P, Donadille C, Magen C, Schatz E, Stranz R, Curado A, Tsiakou T, Verdes L, Aleksova A, Carrieri P, Mezaache S, Ben Charif A; Eurosider study group. 

Int J Drug Policy. 2020 Oct 20;87:102992. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102992. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33096364.

https://www.correlation-net.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/IJDP_Eurosider-study.pdf

Themenschwerpunkt: Drogenkonsumräume (Rausch – Wiener Zeitschrift für Suchttherapie, 8./9. Jahrgang, Heft 4·2019/1·2020)

https://mcusercontent.com/719c55c8a2c9fe8b230503cb1/files/6f63d4aa-436e-48e6-89d0-ef5733bbccc4/scientific_article_DCR_CChavet_gecomprimeerd.pdf

People's positions on supervised injection facilities for drug users. 

Munoz Sastre MT, Kpanake L, Mullet E. French 

Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2020 Oct 14;15(1):79. doi: 10.1186/s13011-020-00321-2. PMID: 33054832; PMCID: PMC7557075.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7557075/

USA. Will the U.S. get its first supervised drug consumption site?

(...) Today, about 120 legally sanctioned supervised consumption sites operate in 11 countries globally, including Canada, Germany and Switzerland. Now there’s a proposal for the first supervised consumption site to open in the United States, but the federal government filed a lawsuit to block it from opening in Philadelphia. (AMA – American Medical Association, 15.12.2020)

https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/opioids/will-us-get-its-first-supervised-drug-consumption-site

Schottland. Drugs activist Peter Krykant ready to go to court as he fights to save addicts

Peter Krykant was charged with an offence and cautioned in October. (Daily Record, UK, 11.12.2020)

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/drugs-activist-peter-krykant-ready-23149903

Schweiz. Niederschwellige, akzeptierende Suchtarbeit - Eine qualitative Studie für die Relevanz von Kontakt- und Anlaufstellen mit Konsumraum in Kleinstädten der Schweiz 

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem Thema Kontakt- und Anlaufstellen mit Konsumraum in Schweizer Kleinstädten. Schweizweit existieren vier Kontakt- und Anlaufstellen mit Konsumraum in kleinen Städten. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist, mithilfe einer qualitativen Forschung in Erfahrung zu bringen, mit welchen Rahmenbedingungen die Kontakt- und Anlaufstellen mit Konsumraum in den Kleinstädten konfrontiert sind und welchen Mehrwert sie für wen bieten.

Bachelor-Arbeit der Hochschule Luzern - Soziale Arbeit, Jeanne Eckhart und Matthias Hürzeler, August 2020 

https://www.soziothek.ch/niederschwellige-akzeptierende-suchtarbeit

  1. Supervised Injection Facilities and Other Supervised Consumption Sites: Effectiveness and Value; Evidence Report.
  2. Schottland. Operator of Glasgow safe drug-use van charged at service
  3. Schottland. Long Read: Dani Garavelli: On the road with Scotland's drug consumption van
  4. Schottland. Two drug users an hour helped at consumption van service in Glasgow city centre
  5. To what extent do supervised drug consumption services incorporate non-injection routes of administration? A systematic scoping review documenting existing facilities.