The Council of State issued a negative opinion on the establishment of lower-risk consumption rooms, called “shooting rooms”. The information revealed by radio France Inter was confirmed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on its website.
Consumption rooms with lower risk “are spaces supervised by professionals allowingensure a safe use environment for injecting drug users in hygienic conditions avoiding infectious risks, ”recalls the ministry.
The Council of State considers that this place “does not legally comply with the law of 1970” which establishes the principle of prohibition of drug consumption. If this opinion is advisory and will not necessarily be accepted by the government, this makes it unlikely the next opening in November of the first shooting room in the tenth arrondissement of Paris.
Secure the device
The crux of the problem is legal: a 2005 decree authorizes associations to support drug addicts but not to help them consume, which remains prohibited under the 1970 law. The Council of State, which carried out the procedure. examination of the bill on October 8 ruled on this decree and therefore issued a negative opinion.
He recommends to the government to include in the law the principle of this device for “more legal guarantee”, relays the Ministry of Health, before specifying: “the government will work with the actors concerned by this project to legal security of this device “.
For the government, these shooting rooms are necessary. Experience has shown in several countries that these rooms constitute an interesting tool for reduce “risky behavior and fatal overdoses “and” reduce drug use in public “and” the associated nuisances “, he justifies. But this conviction is not shared by all, and the debate on the opening of a The shooting room in France divides public opinion and elected officials.This opinion of the Council of State confirms that the controversy is far from being buried.
