Second injecting room axed
The state government has scrapped plans for a second supervised drug injecting room in the centre of Melbourne.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the government had been unable to find a location in the CBD and was unwilling to protract the process any longer.
A second supervised injecting room would have complemented another facility in Richmond.
Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said the government could not find a site in the city that met the needs of drug users and the broader community.
The North Richmond injecting room opened in July 2019, and a second room had been tipped for Flinders St.
Instead, the government on Tuesday announced a $95m statewide drug harm action plan.
It includes a community health hub on Flinders St with wraparound services and a two-year hydromorphone trial involving 60 drug users.
Hydromorphone is an opioid and trial participants would be selected among those who had been resistant to other diversionary treatments.
At the announcement, Ms Allan repeatedly said drug users and their families did not deserve to be stigmatised for health issues.
In 2022, 230 people died of a heroin overdose across Victoria, Ms Allan said.
“People living and struggling with addiction deserve the very best care and the best chance,” she said.
Ms Allan thanked former police officer Ken Lay, who prepared a 119-page report for the government, looking at a second injecting room, and recommended a second site.
Mr Lay identified 50 potential sites for an additional injecting room.
That list was whittled down to a short-list of three.