New calls for St Kilda safe injecting room, drug intervention programs
Port Phillip has recorded the highest rate of accidental drug overdose deaths in Melbourne, renewing calls for a safe injecting room in St Kilda. Here’s what the experts and people who would live nearby think.
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Port Phillip has the highest rate of accidental drug overdose deaths in Melbourne, a new study into nationwide drug use reveals.
And an average of 1.6 Port Phillip residents were admitted to hospital for drug-related illnesses every day last financial year.
The “alarming” figures have sparked renewed calls for a medically supervised injecting room to be set up in St Kilda, where drug use is notoriously rife.
A Penington Institute report released this week found 78 people in Port Phillip had died from overdose in the five years to 2018, up from 53 between 2009 and 2013.
The five-year death rate is equal to Dandenong and higher than Frankston (71), Melbourne CBD (60) and Yarra (45).
Only Geelong had more overdose deaths in the same period, with 80 fatalities recorded.
Data from Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre shows there were 583 ambulance call outs for drug-related incidents in Port Phillip last financial year, including 185 for heroin and 123 for crystal meth.
Star Health chief executive Damian Ferrie said a review of the North Richmond supervised injecting room found it had so far been an effective harm minimisation measure for drug users.
“We know prohibition doesn’t work — it didn’t work for alcohol and it hasn’t worked for drugs,” he said.
“The independent review of the North Richmond injecting room said it has saved about 25-30 lives in two years.
“Drugs are having an enormous impact on St Kilda and pretending the problem isn’t there or that it’ll suddenly go away won’t work.”
He said any measures which reduced harm in the community should be investigated.
“I get the fact injecting drug users are despised by many in the community — but they’re somebody’s daughter, son, sister, brother, mother, father and their lives are worth saving,” Mr Ferrie said.
He said he looked forward to the results from the trial of the Melbourne safe injecting room and learning about ways to drive down drug harm while balancing any potential amenity impacts for the local community.
St Kilda East-based Windana Alcohol and Drug Recovery chief executive Anne-Maree Kaser previously told the Leader injecting rooms would make an “immediate and significant difference” in reducing drug overdoses in Port Phillip and was the “next logical step”.
At a Port Phillip Council-run community St Kilda safety audit in 2018, residents were largely in favour of a safe injecting facility being establishing in the suburb.
Properties in St Kilda, Elwood and South Melbourne were among those raided as part of Operation Brandish last month, which saw 14 people arrested for drugs and weapons offences.
And a poll taken on Port Phillip Leader’s Facebook page this week revealed a majority of respondents were in favour of the idea with 228 people voting for and 41 against.
Maggie Ralph wrote: “I worked just around the corner from the one in Richmond. I wasn’t expecting it to make the area feel safer or cleaner since I figured it would attract more people who weer using drugs to the area, but it actually improved”.
“There were less syringes left on the side of the road … so not only do these safe injecting rooms save lives but they actually improve the community,” she said.
Billy Mayberry said it gave people suffering from addiction “access to medical staff who can help”.
Andrew Hewett said having a safe injecting room in the area was a “no-brainer”.
Kimbobaggins Lawliotis wrote: “Prohibition has failed on every front of the ‘war on drugs’. The war is over; drugs won”.
While Shannon Rogan said it would save lives.
“Lives of real people, with loved ones and favourite TV shows and songs they’ll always sing along too, pet peeves and inside jokes.”
But others said more should be done to prevent drug sales and use.
“Drugs destroy lives and facilitate anti-social and criminal behaviours,” Darren Robinson wrote.
“Organised crime is powered by the trade and our community is left in ruin.”
Christina Hunt called for more counselling services for people with drug addiction instead.
“Let’s get these people off this addictive merry-go-round and restore their lives,” she said.
Mayor Bernadene Voss said safe injecting rooms were “very helpful” for people with heroin addiction but questioned whether such a facility would help people in the area given “St Kilda’s drug of choice is not heroin”.
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