HARWOOD OPENS DOOR TO INJECTING ROOM SPAGE
Harwood says drug strategies not working
“We need to have a broader discussion on drug use with state and federal government. These discussions might include whether a drug injecting room will make a difference in Geelong. ” GEELONG MAYOR BRUCE HARWOOD, RIGHT
GEELONG Mayor Bruce Harwood has opened the door to establishing a safe injecting room in the city.
Cr Harwood signalled his concern and frustration with the effect of drug use in the region in a column for the Geelong Advertiser today.
“The way we’re approaching this widespread issue needs to significantly change,” he said.
“The community’s concern about this issue was reinforced to me last week when I spent some time with a group of local secondary students and they asked me: ‘Should Geelong have a safe injecting room, like in Richmond?’
“My answer to that was that it’s clear to me current strategies in our region aren’t having much of an effect.
“We need to have a broader discussion on drug use with state and federal government.
“These discussions might include whether a drug injecting room will make a difference in Geelong or is it a different model along the lines of a drug use facility that incorporates education and health assistance?”
Cr Harwood’s comments come after the State Government last year passed legislation to allow for a medically supervised injecting room to be trialled for two years in North Richmond.
The comments also come after Geelong state Labor MP Christine Couzens lent her qualified support to the idea last year, when she said she would consider a safe injecting room in Geelong if it was found necessary.
“In Geelong I am not aware that we are experiencing the same number of deaths as in Richmond, however, I will be monitoring how this works and would consider the same in Geelong if it were necessary,” Ms Couzens said in November.
The Labor Party was quick to water down Ms Couzens’s comments last year — amid a by-election battle for Northcote — with Mental Health Minister Martin Foley contacting the Advertiser to say there would “never” be a safe injecting room in the city.
Ms Couzens was then caught out lying in Parliament, accusing the Advertiser of fabricating her quotes supporting the consideration of safe injecting rooms in Geelong — despite her having emailed the exact comments to this newspaper.
In the two months since opening in early July, the North Richmond safe injecting room reported treating about 8000 patients, including 140 non-fatal overdoses.
Mr Foley last week boasted the Richmond facility was “saving lives”.
“Our staff have safely responded to 140 overdoses in just two months, many of which would have otherwise been fatal,” Mr Foley said.
Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association statistics for 2017 showed Geelong had more drug deaths than any other regional city in Victoria this decade, with 130 people dying from overdoses in the region between 2009 and 2016 — the highest figure outside Melbourne.
LIKE many of you, I’m deeply concerned and frustrated about the tragic effect drug use has on our community.
The way we’re approaching this widespread issue needs to significantly change. We’re all seeing the impact drugs have on the community in the regular reports of crime, family violence, traffic accidents and assaults.
Not to mention the impact on drug users themselves — they have lost their support base, they can’t afford their drug use and from my policing experience I can say, many of them don’t want to use drugs any more, but they are trapped in the addiction cycle.
At this point in their lives, they are at their most vulnerable and most likely to commit crime to survive and fuel their drug habit.
The community’s concern about this issue was reinforced to me last week when I spent some time with a group of local secondary students and they asked me: “Should Geelong have a safe-injecting room, like in Richmond?”
My answer to that was that it’s clear to me current strategies in our region aren’t having much of an effect.
We need to have a broader discussion on drug use with state and federal government. These discussions might include whether a drug injecting room will make a difference in Geelong or is it a different model along the lines of a drug-use facility that incorporates education and health assistance?
It can take multiple attempts for someone to access treatment when they are experiencing drug addiction to methamphetamine.
The earlier someone gets support, the better the outcomes. So there’s another discussion to be had. Do we have enough treatment options in Geelong?
State Government has announced it will build a 30-bed drug and alcohol rehab centre next year in the northern suburbs and the Federal Government has provided Foundation 61 with funding to build a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility for females in Mt Duneed.
We welcome this investment.
But the question must be asked, is that enough? Are these facilities making a difference? Do we need to try a different approach?
If we’re not prepared to change how we do things, then we can’t expect a lot of change in what’s happening in the community.
The students also asked me what we’re doing about youth mental health issues. Mental health is a priority identified in our Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan, which is currently out for community comment.
The City is doing some great work in this space including delivering mental health first aid training in secondary schools and advocating for more men’s sheds in Geelong to increase local connections. We’re also working on how we can better support the broader community to enjoy better mental health through social connections.
What local, state and federal governments are doing to improve mental health in the community is also part of the conversation about addressing drug use. How are we helping vulnerable people to educate and support them before they turn to the devastating impacts of drugs
and al- cohol?
Over the next four years council wants to: IMPROVE mental health through social connections; INCREASE participation in physical activity; IMPROVE access to safe and healthy local environments, services and food; and INCREASE community safety and prevent violence and injury.
I want council to be bold in our thinking and work on new initiatives to ensure we’re not leaving people behind without the support they need.
The Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan paints a confronting picture about the mental health of our community, revealing that 32 per cent of Greater Geelong adults have anxiety or depression, which is higher than the average for Victoria.
This indicates an urgent need for council to further address mental health challenges and consider new and innovative ways to tackle this communitywide issue.
But it’s also a call to action for state and federal government to keep focus on whether we are doing enough.
These health and wellbeing issues are linked — mental health, drug use and crime.
The conversation needs to incorporate all of these challenges we face as a community and we need to look at how we can work together to make a real difference.
If this conversation leads to a new approach that sees a genuine and sustainable reduction in drug use and associated crime then it will be well worth it.