This decision was well received by associations of aid and support for drug users but rather worries the inhabitants of neighborhoods affected by drugs.
The Mildt (Interministerial Mission for the Fight against Drugs and Drug Addiction) and the Ministry of Health will be responsible for setting up this experiment. For the moment, we do not know the place or the exact date of the opening of this first shooting room. Even if, the mayor of the 10th arrondissement of Paris, Rémi Féraud, volunteered for a consumption room to open near the Gare du Nord, where a large number of consumers are concentrated. He is satisfied because “it will advance public health and public safety.” He hopes that the room can be opened “before the summer”. The City is working with the SNCF to find suitable premises, the mayor wishing that the opening be done before the summer.
These consumption rooms are intended for precarious street drug addicts who will be able to consume their own drugs in good hygienic conditions, accompanied by health personnel. They are also supposed to help reduce neighborhood disturbances.
“It is a preparatory work which will make it possible to confirm the feasibility of the project in its health, social, economic dimensions and in terms of public security.», Explained Matignon.
Reactions to the project:
Jean-Pierre Couteron, president of Federation addiction, which brings together professionals supporting drug users, is satisfied to see that the project will be set up, but thinks that a better experiment could have been done on several shooting rooms.
The president of Médecin Du Monde is categorical and thinks that the experience will be conclusive. “A study by Inserm shows that these rooms are necessary, and in Spain, in Bilbao, MDM has shown that it is an interesting device for users and the neighborhood,” he says.
On the other hand, residents of the “Association Vivre Gare du Nord and EstAre worried. They fear regrouping “traffic, dealers“. “The shooting room will generate a call for air for drug addicts from other neighborhoods,” says Pierre Coulogner, its president.
UMP-Paris says the government is embarking on a complicated project. And wonders how to set up and finance drug consumption rooms when they are prohibited by law?
