Are safe injection drug rooms a solution to the problem of drug abuse?
Mehr wrote: An addiction expert believes that creating an injection room under current conditions is like painting a dilapidated and deteriorating building, which does not benefit anyone and, in the absence of complementary programs, can even be harmful.
The Welfare Organization is determined to pilot a safe injection room in three provinces of the country. According to the Deputy Director of Prevention and Addiction of the Welfare Organization, these rooms will be set up on a trial basis in the three provinces of Kerman, Khuzestan, and Sistan and Baluchestan. Mohsen Roshan Pajouh said that the Welfare Organization has examined various models of managed consumption rooms worldwide and is preparing the conditions for the pilot of this program in Iran. He has asked the general directors of welfare in the provinces where the project is to be implemented to examine whether it is possible to set up a safe injection room there, given the social, cultural, legal, economic, and regulatory considerations of their provinces. He has predicted that the pilot of this project will begin in these provinces within the next two months; however, a number of addiction experts believe that setting up an injection room is not the current need of the country and, given the lack of funds in the field of harm reduction, spending money on setting up a safe injection room does not seem logical.
Ali Shafiei is one of the experts who opposes the implementation of this plan in the current situation. While he says that the injection room is one of the good and useful parts of harm reduction programs, he believes that it is necessary to examine which programs are more beneficial for the country in terms of cost-benefit and which ones are more beneficial to the needy, and then act accordingly. He says that creating an injection room in the current situation is like painting a dilapidated and deteriorating building, which does not bring much benefit to anyone.
A portion of this addiction expert's summarized interview with Mehr News Agency is as follows:
What action is going to be taken in these safe rooms?
The details of the program have not yet been announced, but safe injection rooms are part of harm reduction efforts. Harm reduction efforts are interventions and services that are provided to people who are not yet ready to quit using drugs to reduce the harm and risks of using drugs to themselves or others.
Can harm reduction programs reduce complications and problems despite substance use?
The harm reduction program for addiction attempts to reduce the individual and social consequences of drug use by users; for example, by providing sterile disposable syringes and needles and contraceptives, it reduces the risk of transmitting infectious diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS to the individual and others, or by providing food and overnight shelter for homeless addicts, providing some of their vital needs, even in the most basic form. These services are provided by clinics called harm reduction drop-in centers, some of which are also equipped with overnight accommodations for the homeless. These centers have mobile teams that take harm reduction services to drug users' hangouts and also provide services to those who are present there and are unwilling to visit a harm reduction center. Of course, another important part of the services provided by transition centers is the provision of alternative drugs such as methadone, which is prescribed to patients under the supervision of a physician in lenient conditions and can gradually reduce their need for drugs and replace them.
Where does the injection room fit into this program?
In addition to factors such as the impurity of the substances mentioned above, when drug use is carried out in inappropriate environments and conditions of hangouts - for example, in cold weather, unsafe spaces, lack of access to medical and emergency facilities, or without the presence of other people who can help in case of a problem - it creates more problems for the user and may even lead to death due to acute poisoning and overdose or overuse. On the other hand, the presence of drug addicts with inappropriate appearances in the streets and drug use in public environments also has social consequences. Therefore, in some countries, to control these problems, places have been designated, usually next to the aforementioned transit centers, where the person can use their drugs in more suitable environmental conditions and with safer tools, and if needed, receive medical and support services. This service, along with a variety of other services provided such as food, clothing, shelter, medical and support services, etc., can help attract and retain individuals in rehabilitation programs and move them to higher stages of recovery.
Final word?
The Anti-Narcotics Law explicitly obliges the Ministry of Welfare to provide treatment and support services for indigent addicts and to provide addiction treatment insurance coverage for all patients. It also provides a legal opportunity for openly indigent addicts, who are mostly indigent, that is, those who have committed misconduct due to addiction, to be referred to treatment centers for treatment instead of being collected from the streets and kept in camps. If the agencies in charge of managing addiction and social harms in the country want to comply with the demands of senior officials of the country to implement “extraordinary measures” to organize the situation of social harms and addiction, and of course, their legal duties, it would be better for them to use their extraordinary efforts to implement tasks to the left behind within the framework of experienced programs and existing unused capacities, instead of “extraordinary” and noisy tasks such as setting up injection rooms.
Source: Online News
