How 'fixing rooms' are saving the lives of people who inject drugs
Across Europe, facilities that offer medical supervision for people who inject drugs are dramatically reducing drug-related deaths
22 Nov 2018Jørgen sharply inhales as the needle pierces his vein, exhaling when the heroin reaches his bloodstream. His eyes reopen with a glimmer of excitement, tinged by a profound scowl of disapproval.
All over Europe, every day, many thousands of people will perform this same ritual. Hundreds will do so, like Jørgen, in drug consumption rooms. But none of these will be in the UK, where drug addicts are mainly confined to back streets, crack houses and hostel bedrooms.
While European overdose rates are falling, the UK now has the worst drug death rate across the continent: one in three of the approximate 8,000 people who die as a result of drugs in Europe will do so in Britain.
Share this on:
