Injection rooms legalized in Norway

[Alfa]

Drug consumption rooms have been a controversial subject in Norway as in many other countries. The Drug Injection Rooms Act was adopted 2 July 2004, and went into force on 17 December the same year. The act is supplemented by detailed administrative regulations. The act is provisional, and will be in force for three years. The pilot project will be evaluated to assess if injection rooms should be permitted on a permanent basis.

There are four explicit aims for the project. These are to:

1. Contribute to greater dignity for heavily dependent drug users
2. Increase the possibility for contact between abusers and support suppliers (social workers, health care workers etc)
3. Prevent infections and the spread of contagious diseases
4. Reduce the number of overdoses and drug related deaths

To use the injection rooms, a person must be at least 18 years old and must be a heavily dependent injecting heroin user. The personnel at the facilities will have the authority to decide whether a person meets the criteria for admission or should be denied access. However, when assessing the criterion ”heavily dependent heroin user”, the opinion of the person concerned is important.

Municipalities that wish to participate in the pilot project and establish injection rooms must be approved by the Directorate for Social Affairs and Health. Norway’s first (and so far only) injection room opened in Oslo in January 2005. It is partly financed by the municipality, and partly by government contributions. Injection rooms are considered to be a health service, and the injection room shall also be co-located with other low-threshold health services. Both personnel with healthcare education and social services education are required on the premises.

There are several requirements as to the services provided. These shall include:

1. distribution of clean injection equipment for each user
2. individual and specific counselling in connection with the injection
3. observation of the users during and after the injection
4. the option of general advice on injection practice, hygiene and personal care (to prevent infection and reduce the risk of harm),
5. the option of simple individual medical aid, such as treatment of sores,
6. the option of counselling and information about healthcare services and social services

In legal terms, the possession and use of one dose of heroin in an approved facility should be exempt from punishment (as long as the user has legal access to facilities) – thus it remains in principle illegal, but prosecution cannot be initiated. Possession and use outside of the approved premises will not be covered by the exemption. It is legal for injection room personnel to give the users individual and specific counselling concerning the injection of heroin at the facilities. If the police suspect punishable possession or use of narcotic drugs at the facilities, the injection room personnel should, upon request, give information on whether identified persons are registered as users of the injection room. The police retain the authority to carry out ordinary measures to ensure public order in the facilities. There is no official police guidance on the subject, but police are expected to take a pragmatic approach.

[Creeping Death]

That sounds like a pretty good idea, but i think that straight up rehab is better. And if the idea is to just create a nice enviroment for people to get high in (who don't want to stop using the drug), then it shouldn't come out of the tax money.

Then they might aswell use tax money to build bong shops and such. It would be better to just hand out brochures about safe and clean heroin use. And remove the blue lights from public bathrooms, that prevent people from seeing a vein.