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Scrapping of drugs room plan for Bristol criticised

PA Hypodermic needle and syringe with a pile of heroin on a spoonPA
The rooms would have given a safe environment to take drugs

The scrapping of a plan for "safe rooms" where addicts could take drugs under medical supervision has been criticised by a campaigner.

The idea in Bristol would have seen addicts use a room with supervision.

A council report backed them but the authority said "past research has not been conclusive" about their use and has now scrapped the plans.

Campaigner Cara Lavan, who lost her partner Jake to an accidental overdose, said the rooms were safer.

She added that the drugs problem in Bristol was "killing people and wrecking lives".

Ms Lavan, who also campaigns for drugs to be legalised, said: "They're putting themselves at more risk because they have to hide in corners. We wouldn't find needles in the corners if these people had a place to go.

"I know that nobody has ever died in a drugs consumption room but people die all of the time [from drugs]. We'd see those deaths go down and they would find support and safety and advice."

'Catastrophic impact'

Bristol's drugs problems were featured in the 2017 BBC documentary series Drugsland.

At the time the programme went out, Ms Debbonaire called for the Royal Commission to deal with the "catastrophic impact" of drugs.

Drugsland showed how drugs affected people in Bristol

The latest report was commissioned for the council's Safer Bristol Partnership and it highlighted the risks of accidental overdoses, saying they could be "managed effectively" with quick intervention.

It also detailed evidence which showed the rooms helped addicts give up drugs and seek treatment.

But the council said it was "not currently working on a feasibility study into supervised drug consumption rooms".

Deputy mayor Asher Craig said she felt the report was not balanced and was "pro-consumption rooms".

She added the council needed to "start a conversation" about the way forward.

Martin Powell, from the Bristol-based Transform Drugs Policy Foundation, backed the plan for the rooms and said they helped people injecting on the streets to get help.

Providing the rooms would mean more addicts could "move into treatment when they're ready to do so".

A Home Office spokesman said there was no legal framework in place to provide the consumption rooms and there were no plans to introduce them on a national basis.

"The government's position on drugs remains clear - we must prevent drug use in our communities and support people dependent on drugs through treatment and recovery," he added.