Reykjavík City Council unanimously approved yesterday a motion to start talks between the municipality and the Ministry of Health on opening a safe injection site in Reykjavik. This spring, Parliament passed legislation to allow these types of safe places to be opened. It is estimated that around 700 people inject drugs.
The report attached to the application states that the Welfare Committee adopted a homelessness plan last summer, which included a comprehensive support program. The plan includes proposals such as setting up a facility for women with comorbid conditions (both mental and substance abuse problems), strengthening the city’s counseling team, separating 20-25 small houses, buying more apartments, creating a new emergency shelter. paying special attention to the situation of women and increasing the level of education and knowledge about the problems faced by people who have problems with the use of addictive substances.
The report also states that Reykjavík’s Department of Social Services believes that working towards legalizing safe injection sites for addicts will be a positive step. Harm reduction is essential and it is important to ensure a safe location for these people in order to avoid further injury, disease and even death.
“According to the ministry, addicted people experience a lot of prejudice, also within the public health care system, which only aggravates their problems, increasing the risk that they will not seek help and support. In order for a safe injection space to function as it should, it is not enough, as many have claimed, to open a room that people can enter, that’s absolutely not the point. The basic needs of these people should be taken into account. They should be able to enter from the street and have access to clean facilities, food, hygiene, clothing and clean and safe space “ Heiða Björg Hilmarsdóttir said at the city council meeting.
The minutes of the meeting read: “By presenting this conclusion, we want to have a safe injection site in Reykjavik as studies have shown that harm reduction measures reduce the negative and dangerous effects of substance abuse. Our goal is to introduce the ideology of harm reduction to municipal services, but to make safe injection spaces a reality, cooperation with the Ministry of Health is needed to provide the necessary healthcare. Experiences from other countries show that opening a safe injection site reduces external use of the substance, thus improving the local community. “
The laws on safe places to inject were passed in parliament last May, giving municipalities the ability to open safe spaces for users of intravenous substances. Ólafur Þór Gunnarsson, member of the Green Left party, hoped that the first such spaces would be opened this year and called the bill “The first step towards decenalizing substance use”.
Source: Yle