Better Solutions Than The Kings Cross Injecting Room

 

The Kings Cross injecting room, where 3810 registered addicts inject or consume illicit drugs promotes tolerance of illicit drug use.

Narcotics used by the drug users at Kings Cross come from the international criminal drug cartels so criminals are the major beneficiaries of the drug market at Kings Cross.

At an average cost of $50 for a hit of heroin, the 56,861 hits that the users had at Kings Cross, provided some $2.8million to the international drug cartels and local drug pushers.

This drug market undermines the efforts of international agencies to limit supply of illicit drugs. This is why United Nations agencies like the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) have in the past criticized Australia.

The Alternative

Other countries have proven that they can reduce demand for drugs, the number of illicit drug users and greatly limit drug overdoses and deaths.

Our council believes that governments must use courts to divert drug users into detoxification and then rehabilitation to a drug free life.

We also believe courts should be used to minimize the supply of illicit drugs from international criminals and not facilitate the drug cartels.

Detoxification and rehabilitation has many benefits including the reduction in the number of drug users.

 In Sweden drug usage rate are five times lower than in Australia because Sweden uses its courts to divert drug users into detoxification and rehabilitation.

Sweden’s rehabilitation diversion program has a 80% to 90% success rate in getting users drug free. Our Council believes that Australia can achieve similar success rates in getting drug users completely free of drugs.

Rehabilitated drugs users can get on with rebuilding their lives free of the drugs that imprisoned and controlled them.

The injecting room’s 1385 referrals to “drug treatment and counselling “ maintains drug use because only 20% of drug users took up the offer of “treatment and counselling” with few Kings Cross clients now drug free.

Overdoses

Drug users that are in drug free detoxification and rehabilitation do not have drug overdoses so they do not die from drug overdoses.

Claims that injecting rooms have saved between 4 and 9 lives per year or will now be saving closer to 25 lives a year underline the fact that the injecting room facilitated these near death experiences.

The Kings Cross injecting room had 329 drug overdoses in its 18 months of operation, which is five times higher than similar centres overseas. Had the drug users that endured these overdoses been diverted into detoxification and rehabilitation then none of these events would have occurred. Not only that but drug users that endured overdoses at other locations other than Kings Cross would not have experienced these near death experiences had they been provided with detoxification and rehabilitation.

A narcotic overdose is a death experience that can be reversed with a timely medical intervention to prevent the death of the user. Helping drug users to consume dangerous narcotics then “saving” them when they overdose and almost die does not apply when they are in drug free rehabilitation.

Money Better Spent

Money (claimed to be $2 million a year) for the operation of the Kings Cross injecting room should be diverted to detoxification and rehabilitation.

The INCB claimed that governments contravene UN Conventions by facilitating, aiding and abetting of crimes including drug trafficking.

The UN conventions were established precisely to eliminate places where drugs could be abused with impunity according to the INCB and it criticized the Kings Cross injecting room as a modern version of an opium den.

Claims that the Kings Cross injecting room should be duplicated to other places in NSW will expand the benefits to drug cartels and expand the number of overdoses that damage drug users.

Conclusion

Sweden and other countries have proven that diversion into detoxification and rehabilitation to a drug free life is the better way.

 

Look at our web site at www.daca.org.au for more arguments against injecting rooms.

Our email address is drugadvice@hotmail.com