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Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Tue May 23, 2006 at 11:54:52 AM EST
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The BBC News reports today that a panel of experts in Britan have recommended a program that has been in effect in Switzerland for years -- heroin addiction rooms, where addicts can go to get clean needles and shoot up, with a nurse on staff to help them find a vein or provide medical or treatment advice.

Addicts can get a shower, there is a small restaurant providing nutritious food, and even a corner with comfortable armchairs and table football. But perhaps the most important thing the centre provides, apart from the clean needles, is psychiatric support.

Most doctors who treat long-term addicts agree there is always a point when an addict is ready to give up heroin, and there are staff here to watch for those signs, to counsel, and to refer patients for therapy.

The principle behind the program is harm reduction --reducing the harm that illegal drugs cause to the users themselves as well as to society as a whole. Back to the BBC article today:

....getting people off drugs is not the primary aim of the centre; instead the real goal is harm reduction. "Of course it is great if we can refer people to a rehabilitation clinic," she said. "But the point is some of these addicts have already tried more than 10 times to come off heroin. They need their drugs, and they can't stop just like that.

"We know from experience that if we weren't here they would still take heroin, but out on the streets. What we are trying to do is help them survive this phase of addiction."

When will U.S. drug policy wise up?

On a related note, I meant to link to Avedon Carol at Sideshow who found this great video of a 1972 Euoropean performance of Heroin by Velvet Underground's Lou Reed and John Cale. It's streamed, so I don't think it can be downloaded, but it's great to watch.

Of course, we shouldn't forget Neil Young's "The Needle and the Damage Done." Here's a video of his unplugged version.

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    Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted | 19 comments (19 topical)
    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#1)
    by Pete Guither on Tue May 23, 2006 at 12:10:05 PM EST
    There's additional value from such a program:
    Switzerland is now leading the way out of prohibition. In 1994, it started prescribing free heroin to long-term addicts who had failed to respond to law enforcement or any other treatment. In 1998, a Lausanne criminologist, Martin Kilias, found that the users' involvement in burglary, mugging and robbery had fallen by 98%; in shoplifting, theft and handling by 88%; in selling soft drugs by 70%; in selling hard drugs by 91%. As a group, their contacts with police had plunged to less than a quarter of the previous level. The Dutch and the Germans have had similar results with the same strategy. All of them report that, apart from these striking benefits in crime prevention, the users are also demonstrably healthier ( because clean heroin properly used is a benign drug ) and that they are more stable with clear improvements in housing, employment and relationships. [The Guardian]
    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue May 23, 2006 at 12:10:47 PM EST
    The additional side benefit to these rooms is that by treating heroin addicts as sick people rather than as rebellious outlaws, the allure of the drug to teenagers is greatly diminished.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#3)
    by squeaky on Tue May 23, 2006 at 12:17:19 PM EST
    The police and prison lobby must be relatively weak in Switzerland and Holland. When things make no logical sense follow the money.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#5)
    by roy on Tue May 23, 2006 at 12:45:53 PM EST
    Ah, Switzlerand, where you can go to prison for not buying drugs, er, paying your taxes. How progressive.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue May 23, 2006 at 01:29:49 PM EST
    IMHO, justifying the expense for at best a 10%-15% long term recovery rate will be impossible. Voters won't want to hear about "hidden" savings. They'll want direct evidence of success for the taxes they'll be asked to pay.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#7)
    by roy on Tue May 23, 2006 at 01:38:45 PM EST
    Voters won't want to hear about "hidden" savings. They'll want direct evidence of success for the taxes they'll be asked to pay.
    Well, that is a tricky thing. The Drug War advocates can point to an addict rotting in a cell as a "success", where advocates of treatment must make more subtle arguments comprehensible. (My earlier post might obscure the fact that I prefer treatment over incarceration)

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#8)
    by Dadler on Tue May 23, 2006 at 02:06:42 PM EST
    narius, ah, something we can agree on! 'tis indeed a great day. bravo.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#9)
    by Dadler on Tue May 23, 2006 at 02:07:10 PM EST
    well, except for the minor thing. i'm not sold on the logic of it.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#10)
    by Dadler on Tue May 23, 2006 at 02:13:12 PM EST
    I mean, if a heroin addicted minor is either going to be on the streets or in this type of program, it's a no-brainer. Especially when faced with the horrible withdrawl symptoms to be faced in a cold-turkey rehab.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#11)
    by HK on Tue May 23, 2006 at 02:23:57 PM EST
    I too agree with the sentiment, but Dadler, you are wasting your time ~ narius doesn't do logic. (It's kind of scaring me that he's making any sense...)

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue May 23, 2006 at 02:43:58 PM EST
    I work with addicts and I think there is a middle ground. I would not support legalized drugs. It would just make it easier to become an addict. Especailly stuff like herion and crack is so seductive the first time and so so hard to get of off. There are better drugs now to deal with withdrawal and better treatment than ever but none of it available thru ins. on any kind of long term basis. There is a middle ground that would provide long term, non-punitive treatment on demand and keeps drugs illegal. We could do away with racist sentencing guidelines and three strikes while we are at it.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#13)
    by Sailor on Tue May 23, 2006 at 02:48:39 PM EST
    Here's a line I thought I'd never write. I agree with narius. (Except for the minor thing. if the kid's addicted he could probably benefit more, that whole 'nipping it in the bud' thing, no pun intended.) Even doing a needle exchange has been shown to have proven medical and financial benefits.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#14)
    by Sailor on Tue May 23, 2006 at 02:57:45 PM EST
    baltimoremom, I see your point, but legalizing and taxing the drugs would make treatment pay for itself. Illegal drugs just make a huge black market that benefits no one - see alcohol.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#16)
    by Che's Lounge on Tue May 23, 2006 at 04:36:06 PM EST
    Narius, Good post. IMHO most minors are early into addiction and respond better to intervention. I have no current data to back that, but maybe Baltimoremom could enlighten us on that observation.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#17)
    by Pete Guither on Tue May 23, 2006 at 04:42:30 PM EST
    Some of you are forgetting something else. If the heroin is free through clinics for those who are addicted, there's no longer a good market for those selling it illegally. As a criminal, what's the point of getting someone hooked if they can then go to the clinic and get it for free? No return business. No profits. Less illegal drugs available to hook kids. One of the additional side benefits to the Switzerland program is that, over time, the average age of addicts increased dramatically -- a result of two things: 1. addicts were living longer, and 2: there were fewer new young addicts.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#18)
    by Dadler on Tue May 23, 2006 at 04:51:47 PM EST
    Pete, Funny how enlightened policy, no matter how wrought with difficult ironies, will result in positive outcomes.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#19)
    by Alan on Tue May 23, 2006 at 08:46:06 PM EST
    Sydney's had a heroin injecting room for some years. A 2003 review found:
    An independent review has credited Sydney's controversial heroin injecting room with saving lives, getting addicts into treatment and improving the Kings Cross area. NSW Special Minister of State John Della Bosca today released the final report of the evaluation of the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) trial at Kings Cross. It found more than 500 drug overdoses had been treated without a single fatality, and there was no increase in drug-related crime or drug dealing in the area. The evaluation was commissioned in July 1999 to independently assess the feasibility of the centre which opened amid much controversy in May 2001. Mr Della Bosca said he had been encouraged by the evaluation. "From my own point of view I think the evaluation report ... makes a strong case for the centre's continuing operation and continuing research," he said. "I'd like now to encourage debate ... it's important that right across the community there is a debate and all those interested have something to say about it." The evaluation found that during the 18-month trial, between May 2001 and October last year, clients made 56,861 visits to the centre, with an average of 15 visits per client. The committee that conducted the review estimated the centre had saved at least 13 deaths during the trial period. Currently the cost of running the centre is $2 million a year. Registered users at the MSIC included 3,810 individuals and 73 per cent were male. On average they were 31 years old, started injecting when 19 years old and had been injecting for 12 years.
    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed May 24, 2006 at 10:22:57 PM EST
    You might find this of interest: Heroin Bottom line: The government is persecuting abused children.

    Re: Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted (none / 0) (#21)
    by jondee on Thu May 25, 2006 at 01:25:20 AM EST
    I wouldnt think a big regime change guy like you - what with all the "collateral damage" entailed - would be that concerned about the welfare of children.

    Heroin Injection Rooms for the Addicted | 19 comments (19 topical)