“The ‘addiction care stops,’ which have proven their worth, could soon disappear.”

Strasbourg is hosting a European conference on low-risk consumption rooms on June 18 and 19. It will bring together more than 600 people from around the world, at a time when these essential public health measures are currently under threat in our country.

For over thirty years, the French Observatory for Drugs and Addictive Trends (OFDT) has been reporting a steady rise in drug use in France, as well as an increase in the supply of illicit drugs (with the exception of heroin), due to the sharp rise in production levels worldwide. The health stakes for the population, particularly young people, are significant.

While the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime is important, a strong public health and prevention policy, fully integrating harm reduction, is equally necessary.

Low-risk consumption rooms, known as "addiction treatment centers," are one of the levers in this fight. They have been tested successfully in many countries and were permitted in France by the law on the modernization of our health system of January 26, 2016. Thus, in Paris and Strasbourg , two rooms have been created. Their primary aim is to improve the health of injecting drug users by reducing the risks associated with injection, such as contamination by AIDS or hepatitis C, or fatal overdoses. The room managers are medical and social professionals who have worked for many years with a population of users in very precarious situations.

These rooms not only protect the health of users but also that of the entire population, by limiting contamination and providing a foundation for social support and care: if we combine Paris and Strasbourg, they have thus allowed 1,600 users to be accommodated per year. But they also preserve the public tranquility of our fellow citizens: since 2016, the 550,000 injections they have supervised represent as many fewer consumption and syringes in public spaces.

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