Why we need to look again at how we deal with our city's drug problems

VICAR CALLS FOR SPECIAL ROOMS FOR ADDICTS TO HELP STOP BEGGING ON STREETS OF NEWCASTLE

It is very depressing every day picking up drug rubbish and worse The Rev Dr Nicholas Buxton

SHOOTING galleries where drug addicts could legally use heroin, would put a stop to begging and help get the homeless off our streets, according to a leading Tyneside churchman.

The Rev Dr Nicholas Buxton, who deals with the consequences of drug taking on a daily basis, has backed the idea of “shooting rooms” for addicts to inject.

Dr Buxton, from St John the Baptist Church on Grainger Street in Newcastle, says his churchyard has become a magnet for people under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Each morning, Dr Buxton says he collects rubbish including so-called ‘legal high’ packaging and used needles from the churchyard.

He said: “It is depressing every day picking up drug rubbish and worse, clearing up the mess that these people are making.

“It’s very depressing when you are working hard to improve the city.”

Dr Buxton says he has seen an increasing number of heroin needles discarded in the grounds of his church. However, Northumbria Police denied there is a growing problem with the class A drug in the city.

But the vicar says he often witnesses people unconscious due to drug abuse.

“People are taking a lot of Spice and when they do, they really do become like zombies,” he said. “It’s quite frightening, they are causing themselves harm and damage which could be permanent.

“When you speak to people begging on the streets, they don’t want to be there. A lot of people have had extremely hard and dramatic life experiences, they fall into the lifestyle that is associated with drugs. I think drug regulation is the long-term solution.

“If you regulate drugs for people with addictions, it would take away a lot of the anti-social behaviour from city centres like begging, shoplifting and the petty crime that people turn to to fund their lifestyles.

“People would be more likely to hold down a normal life.”

County Durham’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Ron Hogg, has long been an advocate of drug regulation and announced earlier in the year plans for “shooting rooms” or places for people to inject heroin safely.

And Dr Buxton has said this idea should be considered for Newcastle.

“Shooting rooms would be a step in the right direction, a small step but a step none the less,” he said.

Stephen Bell, the chief executive of homelessness and drug addiction charity Changing Lives, this week said there is an increasing number of people mixing drugs and that former legal highs – or new psychoactive substances – are still a scourge on the city.

For many years, Changing Lives was opposed to the idea of legalising and regulating drugs. However, in recent months it has started to consider the idea. After researching schemes in Portugal and Uruguay which have been successful, Mr Bell said: “We would welcome anything that stops people having destructive lifestyles and it could work to help people. “Years ago, we as an organisation would never have said this was an option but we have to look to try something different. It cannot carry on as it is as it is not working.”

Northumbria Police said it is aware of concerns regarding drug abuse in Newcastle city centre and is working to tackle the issue.