Bristol City Council has backed the idea of piloting a safe drug consumption room – a medical facility for people to take drugs in a safe environment – in an attempt to tackle the crisis of drug-related deaths. But the idea has been blocked by the Home Office, meaning that unlike many other countries, drug users in Bristol and the rest of the UK will continue to be put at risk.
Drugs worker Peter Krykant decided to take matters into his own hands by setting up his own safe consumption room in Glasgow. Scotland is the drug death capital of Europe, but Krykant put himself at risk of criminal prosecution, after plans supported by Glasgow City Council were slapped down by the UK government.
He and other drug policy experts spoke to the Cable on a visit to Bristol from his converted van, from which he has been trying to prevent overdoses in the last year.
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This is not a new idea, and its not new that it is being hounded out by a government who has never lived the issue. John Marks, back in 1982 set up a whole programme in Liverpool which lasted until 1995 – withstanding a huge amount of pressure. He was shortlisted for a Nobel Peace prize – showing how much such innovation is valued by others, if not our own government.
An abstract about John Marks’ work. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32217353/
An abstract about John Marks’ work on back int eh 1980s. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32217353/