The Green Party today welcomed research, from an expert group set up by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse, that called for heroin shooting galleries for long-term addicts to be rolled out nationwide.
The report is based on a three-year trial which has been run in Darlington, Brighton and South London. Brighton, where the Green Party is working to elect Caroline Lucas, is particularly affected by the effects of the drug trade on the community. (1)
Shane Collins, Green Party drugs spokesperson, said:
"The Downing St Policy Unit reported in 2005 that 57% of all crime in UK was caused by people feeding a class A drug habit. Supervised shooting galleries are a Green policy that will cut crime, take back many housing estates from gangs that run them and deal heroin." (2)
"This research confirms what has been going on in Switzerland, Germany, Holland and Australia -- free heroin in supervised 'shooting galleries' turns hardened addicts lives around, leading to less crime and safer neighbourhoods, and less illegal purchases of heroin, so less heroin dealers, so less young addicts so less prostitution and thieving and we start to break the downward cycle."
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Notes to editors:
1) 44 people died in Brighton from drug-related causes in 2008. Brighton and Hove has around 2,300 injecting heroin addicts, who are particularly at risk.
2) Brighton and Hove, divisional policing plan, 2008-2009, http://www.sussex.police.uk/about_us/downloads/B-H_LPP_2008-09%5B1%5D.pdf, "Acquisitive crime in Brighton & Hove is driven by the need for many of those addicted to heroin and crack cocaine to fund their habit through crime. This they do by stealing, whether by breaking into people's homes and cars, burglary of commercial property, taking people's personal property in the street or shoplifting."
3) For information on an agency doing substance abuse work in Brighton, see: http://www.cri.org.uk/our_services/substance_misuse_services_in_the_community.php