Calls for Norwich to pilot a scheme where addicts would be given a 'safe space' to take drugs have been rejected by public health bosses.
Two years ago, Norwich City Council adopted a Green Party motion to explore whether special 'consumption spaces' could be set up in the city to reduce drug-related deaths. But Norfolk County Council has now said it would not support such a move.
The proposed sites would be places where users could take drugs while being supervised by a healthcare professional.
The idea has already been adopted in other countries, including Switzerland, Portugal and Denmark, while an unofficial mobile room was recently set up in Bristol.
Green city councillor Martin Schmierer. (Image: Archant 2021)
He said the sites would act as a gateway for rehabilitation and remove drug paraphernalia and needles from streets and communal buildings in the city.
While the city council backed the motion, there has been no progress since.
Council leaders in Bristol have long considered setting up consumption rooms - but it would require a law change and the Home Office said running them would be an offence.
Last month saw a mobile drug consumption van set up in Bristol - an Overdose Prevention Centre which previously operated in Glasgow - but it is not official.
That led to the raising of whether Norwich could get consumption rooms at a meeting of Norfolk County Council, where Green councillor Jamie Osborn urged the authority to support the idea.
He said it would "prevent situations where drug-users take drugs in the stairwells of residents, with faeces, blood and drug paraphernalia left outside residents’ front doors".
But Bill Borrett, cabinet member for adult social care, gave the idea short shrift.
He said: "As you would expect Norfolk County Council is committed to reducing the number of drug related deaths.
"Our public health commissioners follow national policy, therefore we would not support 'consumption rooms' because they are not supported by the Home Office."
Latest available government figures show that, in 2020 there were 72 deaths related to drug poisoning in Norfolk, 23 of which were in Norwich. That was up on 70 deaths in 2019, but down on 82 in 2018.
Analysis
There are more than 100 safer drug consumption facilities in operation around the world, including in Switzerland, Denmark, France, Australia and Canada.
The idea is that, with expert staff on hand, they reduce the chances of overdoses and transmission of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis.
They also enable workers to engage with drug users and direct them to addiction treatment, while stopping people from taking drugs in public places.
Studies of some of the facilities showed overdoses and deaths in the areas reduced and in Vancouver the centre was credited with a 33pc increase in people seeking addiction treatment and a 72pc increase in entering a detoxification programme.
Last summer, when senior medical professionals were suggesting Scotland should introduce such rooms, prime minister Boris Johnson said: "I am not in favour, instinctively, of encouraging people to take more drugs."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here