Behind the front door: Mainline Annual Report 2014

People who use drugs no longer die in the streets in the Netherlands. Thanks to education and an increase in housing projects, the quality of life of people who use drugs has increased significantly over the last twenty years.However, this does not mean that there are no more problems.

Increasingly, drugs are taken at home, in private. Heroin and freebase cocaine are more often used at home, and also the liquid drug GHB, popular among young people, is used predominantly in a private setting. And did you know that crystal meth is predominantly used at private sex parties?

Therefore, Mainline did not only focus on the streets in 2014, but also tried to look behind the front door.

Mainline's activities ranged from small scale outreach work aimed at gay men who use drugs, to a large scale study into people with a problematic GHB habit. Of course, their work does not stop at the border.

Mainline helps people and organisations worldwide to apply the harm reduction approach and to improve the quality of life of people who use drugs to a level worthy of human existence. Their activities range from needle exchange in Kenya, to human rights-focussed projects in South Africa and education about hepatitis C in Georgia. On a grass roots level as well as on the plain of policymaking, Mainline joins professional expertise and pragmatism in everyday practice.

The annual report provides a peek into Mainline’s sundry kitchen!

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