Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Addicts would use ‘safe space’
Welcome for ‘shooting galleries’ to keep addicts away from public places
Heroin users in Canterbury say they would welcome the creation of special places to inject the drug.
So-called “shooting galleries” are meant to provide safe environments for taking the class A drug and removing it from public places such as parks or toilets.
Cllr Neil Baker, chairman of the city council’s community committee, last week said Canterbury should have a discussion about whether to introduce them following deaths from overdoses in public toilets.
This week a user and a former heroin addict on the city’s streets welcomed the proposal.
Carl Edwards, 26, has been a user since he was 21 and is homeless.
“This is definitely a good idea especially as people have died in toilets from taking it,” he said.
“If they can make it a safe environment and a place which is supervised and clean, then that should work. I never leave my needles anywhere and always put them in a secure container, but others do.”
Cllr Baker warned that the authorities could not avoid the fact that heroin is taken on Canterbury’s streets.
Needles and other paraphernalia are routinely found in the Canterbury Lane and Tower Way toilets, both of which have also seen deaths from overdoses.
Homeless Ashley O’brien is a former user who says he managed to kick his addiction after almost 10 years of use.
The 28-year-old said: “I’m completely clean now, but it’s hard getting off heroin and if these shooting galleries can somehow help point people towards getting treatment then they can’t be a bad thing.
“If people are going to continue using, then it’s better for them to do it in a safe place instead of on the streets or in the toilets.
“But there should always be help on hand for people who want it.
“I managed to get help from an addiction charity and by taking myself away from other people who were using.”
Barton ward councillor Oliver Fawcett has requested a report be written for the next meeting of the city council’s Canterbury Area Member Panel.
The Conservative said: “I think we should explore the feasibility of such an idea.
“We’ve seen the photographs on social media of needles left in public and sooner or later there is going to be some sort of accident.
“If that happens, people will likely ask why the council has not been more proactive in trying to do something about.
“That, I believe, involves creating a safe place for users and that in turn makes it safer for everyone else.”
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