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'When there is somewhere safe for people to go and inject they will use it - I will use it'

Ireland’s first supervised injection centre could be up and running by the end of 2017.

All rights reserved. Peter Varga Peter Varga

If supervised injecting facilities had been open sooner, my health would not be as bad as it is now, many of my friends might still be alive and maybe we’d all be off of drugs too?
Who knows, but I know I wish it wasn’t like this – we need help.

This is the voice of Aidan, an Ana Liffey Drug Project service user. He’s been using drugs since he was a child. Now, he’s in his mid-30s, and he believes supervised injection facilities (SIFs) could help him turn his life around.

“I think that when there is somewhere safe for people to go and inject they will use it – I will use it.

It can’t open soon enough.

To raise awareness of the importance of supervised injection facilities (SIF), the Ana Liffey Drug Project is teaming up with Humans of Dublin to document the lives of drug addicts through photographs and their experiences.

There has been some opposition from some businesses and residents who fear it would be detrimental to an area if these centres were to open up there.

Humans of Dublin, a photography project which shares everyday people’s stories and photographs, will be speaking to those affected by drug use in an effort to ‘break down barriers’ between the public and drug users.

Some of these people include Brigid who lost her daughter to addiction twelve years ago, and JM who works with addicts on the front line everyday.

All these people have one thing in common: the belief that the introduction of supervised injecting facilities will benefit not just drug users, but local businesses and other members of the public.

According to Aidan:

“I know a lot of people who inject around the streets of Dublin’s city centre. We are all at risk each and every day. Injecting yourself in an alleyway is degrading and people will come inside, but where can we go right now? Nobody is allowed to take us in.”

All rights reserved. Peter Varga Peter Varga

Why are they effective?

SIFs reduce the harm associated with injecting drug use. They are supervised spaces where people can inject drugs in a clean and hygienic setting off the street. They also allow volunteers to reach out and offer further support to those suffering from serious drug addiction.

SIFs are a widely recognised response to injecting drug use, and are successfully employed in a number of countries, including Switzerland, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia and Canada.

There are at least 3,000 injecting drug users in Dublin with about 400 openly injecting in the city each month.

Humans of Dublin

Peter Varga, the photographer behind Humans of Dublin, said he’s delighted to get involved.

Working with Humans of Dublin, I see every day that people are losing basic human connections. We tend to create barriers between us and them to protect ourselves, thinking that this will never happen to us.

“Many people have little empathy for drug users because they use illegal substances in the first place. People believe that if drug users really wanted to, they could just simply stop taking drugs. Such attitudes show how little we understand about the nature of addiction.”

All rights reserved. Tony Duffin. Peter Varga Peter Varga

Tony Duffin, director of the Ana Liffey Drug Project agreed, saying that people who use drugs are stigmatised and exposed to life threatening risks on a daily basis.

“Injecting is the most risky way of taking drugs. Injecting drugs in public increases those risks. People who inject drugs in the public domain do so in a hurried manner – often amongst filth and human excrement.

People who do this are like you and me, but something in their lives has crushed them.

“The many people that I have met who do this – they don’t want to be injecting in public. The shame they feel is palpable and it inhibits them from making positive changes. The health consequences they suffer are significant.”

He says that he hopes this campaign will help people connect with the human stories behind the problem of public injecting.

“Of course, public injecting impacts on everyone negatively, not just drug users. It’s not good for drug users, for the general public, for business, for anyone. The delivery of Supervised Injecting Facilities in Dublin City Centre will reduce the need to inject in public and improve the situation for us all.”

You can read more about Aidan’s story on the Humans of Dublin website here.

Read: How would a Dublin drug injecting room operate? We spoke to the boss of the Sydney centre

Read: Almost one in five road death victims in 2013 tested positive for illegal drugs

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44 Comments
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    Mute Cosmological
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 6:41 AM

    Intelligent piece, more reason to respect and appreciate what these fine people are doing for us.

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    Mute Bobby wilson
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 7:15 AM

    When the world eventually gets this dangerous virus under control ! it will never be same again particular Europe /American/all other western nations will need to look very carefully at manufacturing our own medical /engineering /all other important products for nation security at times of crisis and greatly reduced our dependency on China and other like minded states!

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    Mute Mary Walshe
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 8:44 AM

    @Bobby wilson:
    Maybe all those nations at war, who spend significant amounts of money on weaponry, could instead put it towards the health and welfare of their citizens.
    I’m thinking particularly of African nations, the Taliban in Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.
    Maybe, just maybe this is a wake up call for humanity across the entire world!

    58
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    Mute Aaron O'Leary
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 10:56 AM

    @Mary Walshe: Or America…?

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    Mute Will
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 2:01 PM

    @Mary Walshe: “a wake up call for humanity across the entire world!”

    I’d like to think so but we’ve had two world wars in the last 100 years that killed over 100 million people and we carried on as before both times (more or less).
    We have short memories.

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    Mute Damon16
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 5:39 PM

    @Mary Walshe: There are multiple potential threats that we face – pandemics is just one of them. Bio-terrorism, cyber terrorism or outright military conflicts, natural disasters (massive volcanic eruption is one big one) and climate change are other threats. Europe has become complacent since WWII, thinking that we are immune from external and internal threats and that material progress is an inevitability. This virus has shown this isn’t true. We should take this as a lesson and make proper contingencies for future threats – and yes includes potential future military threats. We’re lucky that this virus isn’t much more deadly, a contagious virus with a mortality rate of 30-40% or more is certainly possible.

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    Mute Nuala Mc Namara
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 8:25 AM

    Bearing this article in mind ,I am very concerned with the article in IT’s 2 days ago:’Some protection equipment from China ” not ideal”,HSE says’.This shipment cost over €208m but more concerned about the safety of frontline staff!

    23
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    Mute Bobby wilson
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 8:36 AM

    @Nuala Mc Namara: all the more reason why western nations must come together after this nightmare end. Start manufacturing our own medical /engineering /all other important nation security equipment. even it cost more to produce a least it will be of higher quality. Let’s Greatly reduced our dependency on China and other fellow totalitarian states in the world!

    57
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    Mute Alan Watts
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 10:21 AM

    @Nuala Mc Namara: heard on RTE news that most of the equipment isn’t faulty it’s just not what our hospitals are use too using, most will have to be retrained

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    Mute Alan Watts
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 10:47 AM

    @Bobby wilson: yeah the 17% now unemployed can work in our new factories I’m sure we can pay them a few more euro than the slave labour our chinese counterparts get.

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    Mute Bobby wilson
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 11:24 AM

    @Alan Watts: yes! And At least it will be of higher quality than some of equipment made in those states in the far east!..this will be different world when this virus is put under control particular western nations that includes [brixit Britain ] Europe/EU/USA/must all come back together and work closely as one in developing better food/medical /engineering security equipment in coming years and not depending on totalitarian states across the world!

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    Mute MickN
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 1:30 PM

    @Nuala Mc Namara: I heard that not ideal but good enough although they have now changed the order…
    So if RTE says good enough then they must be good enough…Odd way of explaining it though was being very carefull with his words and looked stressed trying to explain without explaining properly.. Weird..

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    Mute Nuala Mc Namara
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 5:22 PM

    @Alan Watts:@MickN RTE news:’Some new PPE’not fit for purpose’-medical staff’ !!!!

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    Mute Agenda21
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    Apr 4th 2020, 2:18 AM

    @Alan Watts: really, on rte wow wee

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    Mute Barney Corleone
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 9:37 AM

    The jury is very much out on initial dose and severity of symptoms. In influenza SARS and MERS there is a correlation and it is highly likely that COVID19 is the same. Even in the discussion that you linked from the science media centre more of the opinions seemed to fall on the side that initial dose is a factor in outcome. More balance please author!

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    Mute Agenda21
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    Apr 3rd 2020, 6:20 AM

    NO

    5
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