Greece health ministry plans drug consumption rooms

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Greece health ministry plans drug consumption rooms

22 November 2018

By Avinash Tharoor

The Greek health ministry is preparing a legislative amendment to permit the opening of drug consumption rooms in Athens, after a university’s claim that it’s overwhelmed by widespread public drug use.

The drug consumption rooms (DCRs) – if approved - will provide a hygienic environment and sterile equipment for people to consume drugs with under the supervision of trained medical staff, according to Greek newspaper, I Kathimerini. Staff will keep a record of the service users, Health Minister Andreas Xanthos has said.

The ministry’s announcement, in late October, came after the Athens University of Economics and Business warned that it may have to close due to an overwhelming number of people using drugs in the campus area.

"In recent years, the [university has faced] difficult and complex problems due, among other things, to the degradation that has occurred in the wider area of its premises and the city centre of Athens […] due to the presence of drug addicts," a university spokesperson said.

“The problem [can be attributed to] insufficient policing, and it also concerns other policy areas such as health, education, social support structures, hygiene, the aesthetics of the city, and, in general, the application of the law,” the spokesperson added.