Crack consumption and rest rooms.
The City of Paris is determined: it is necessary to multiply the places of reception for these addicts to the "drug of the poor", who would be about 5000 in the Parisian agglomeration.
After two internal meetings, the town hall is due to meet at the beginning of November the police and regional prefects, Didier Lallement and Marc Guillaume, as well as the ARS (regional health agency).
Objective: to launch the project, which had been authorized by the former Minister of Health, Agnès Buzyn, to create new rooms for drug consumption, and crack more particularly.
Several sites considered
For the time being, several sites are being considered: the Porte de la Chapelle (18 th), next to the rest rooms for drug addicts located under the A1 motorway interchange, near the waste reception center.
But also the surroundings of the Eole gardens, still in the 18th arrondissement, and the Halles district (1st).
"Our goal is to reach people who are on the scene of drug addiction," underlines Anne Souyris, health assistant to the mayor (PS) of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.
In a few days, a major citizen consultation will be launched in the neighborhoods concerned: residents will be solicited on the issue.
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In addition, the City is considering the creation of mobile units, which could crisscross the capital, to meet crack users.
“The goal, explains Anne Souyris, is to position ourselves in places of consumption, to be as close as possible to drug addicts.
"
In the Halles district, the residents' representative declares himself "not aware" of this intention.
“Personally, I think we should rather help drug addicts to end drugs rather than providing them with shooting rooms,” said Emmanuel Duprat.
"To increase the number of consumption rooms at lower risk is absurd"
The president of the Association for the defense of local residents and animation of the Halles district (ADRAQH) is even up against this establishment in his district: "To increase the number of consumption rooms at lower risk is absurd and has no meaning.
In addition, the Halles district is already an area where many marginalized people live, people in distress, the homeless, people living in tents… Not to mention drug trafficking in the Forum garden.
So, with an extra shooting room, it's the total!
"
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Paris is one of the only cities in France to have already opened a lower-risk consumption room, called a “shooting room”, within the confines of the Lariboisière hospital (10th district) in 2016. This room does not accommodate crack users: with some 200 patients every day, the maximum level has been reached.
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Risk reduction professionals have been waiting for the extension of these rooms for a year while crack, this powerful derivative of cocaine, is plaguing the north-east of the capital.
With a sinister point of convergence for consumers: the crack hill of the Porte de la Chapelle, evacuated twenty times.
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