Belfast Council has voted for the creation of a safe injection house for drug users in the city.
At the full meeting of Belfast City Council this week, a motion by the Green Party, with an Alliance amendment, passed giving support to the establishment of an overdose prevention facility in Belfast. Only the DUP said they would not explicitly support the motion, but added they would not vote against it.
Almost 350 drug related deaths were recorded in the city between 2017 and 2021 and over 1,000 needles are recovered each month.
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The motion states: “There are over 200 Overdose Prevention Facilities in 14 countries across the world. While we are conscious that the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is an inhibitor to the establishment of this service, and that it would require some form of special legal dispensation from the Act for the facility to be lawful, it is clear that current policy is not saving lives.
“In the absence of a local assembly to deliver reform and innovation that can save vulnerable lives, this council will act as a civic leader by requesting our City Solicitor and Chief Executive to engage with partners and to lobby Belfast Trust, PSNI, the Departments of Health and Justice and the Attorney General to make the case for special dispensation.”
An Alliance addition states: “The council will facilitate an open call to organisations who wish to be involved in the setting up of such a facility to work together to draft a proposal on what this service would include, centred on providing overdose prevention facilities and wrap around support services for those in need, and to write to the relevant agencies to urge them to provide multi-year funding for the Complex Lives strategy.”
The Complex Lives project was set up last year in Belfast to help the most vulnerable on the streets get access to housing, addiction support, mental health support and healthcare. It involves multiple partners, including the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Housing Executive, Extern, The Welcome Centre, probation and youth homeless charity DePaul.
Green Councillor Mal O'Hara, who forwarded the motion, said after the meeting on an overdose prevention centre for Belfast: “While there is a long way to go on the establishment of a centre like this, it is an important milestone tonight. Other local authorities across these islands are moving forward on the establishment of these centres. Belfast now joins that group.”
The Green Party NI Leader added: “Overdose Prevention Centres already exist in 16 countries around the world. Anyone who has been in Belfast will have seen vulnerable people and drug debris in the city. A centre such as this can reduce the level of drug debris, making it safer for workers, visitors and communities.
“More importantly, a centre such as this can save lives. With Northern Ireland doubling our drug deaths in the last decade and new records of deaths in 2021, it is more urgent than ever that we establish one of these. If we want to create a cleaner, greener and fairer Northern Ireland, then we need an overdose prevention centre.”
Green Councillor Brian Smyth, who seconded the Green motion, told the council: “I have been told there are anything between 60 and 100 vulnerable in the city centre on a daily basis using intravenous drugs. Before the pandemic this number was lower, and those working in the city centre had a good knowledge of who those people were.
“That number has increased and there are new groups of people who have appeared on the horizon who weren’t previously known. That’s signifying we have an escalating drug problem not just across this city but right across Northern Ireland.
“If they are using heroin they could be injecting up to six times a day. If its cocaine, which I have been told is the most popular drug to inject, it is anywhere between eight and 12 times a day. Many are doing both.” He added: “We can’t police our way out of this, we need to look at best international practice.”
Alliance Councillor Micky Murray, who proposed the amendment, said: “The way in which people with substance use issues are treated by the government is horrendous. Dual diagnosis services would have provided better support to someone like Daryl, an Overdose Prevention Facility would have saved his life.
“Instead of treating people like criminals we should be addressing their health care needs. Harm reduction works, argumentatively it’s the best model towards supporting those with substance misuse issues.”
DUP Alderman George Dorrian told the chamber: “Our position is that we would like a lot more information, and would like to hear a lot more about the benefits of it. We agree wholeheartedly about the need for a strategy in the city to deal with the issues we are facing.”
He said: “We are not going to stymie this in any way but people in communities deserve this conversation. If we are going to get this right everyone has to be involved.”
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