Teen boy dies of drug overdose near controversial safe injecting room
A teenage boy has been found dead after overdosing near a safe injecting room in Melbourne, a day after residents called for its removal.
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A teenage boy has died after overdosing just metres from a controversial safe injecting room in inner Melbourne.
Police were called to Egan Street in Richmond about 8.30am yesterday morning with reports of a suspected heroin overdose where they found the boy, 15, had died, according to 9 News.
Police declared a crime scene but later ruled that the teen’s death was not suspicious.
The boy was found in a unit block, a few hundred metres from a contentious permanent safe drug injection room, which neighbours and residents have previously protested against.
The area where the boy died has become notorious for being frequented by heroin users, with residents complaining of rampant drug use, discarded needles and regular overdoses.
The teenager would not have been able to access the safe injecting room due to his young age.
Residents protested the facility on Saturday, saying they want the injecting room moved elsewhere.
An overflow of drug users failing to use the facility and being spotted in nearby streets has left locals frustrated.
A 15-year-old boy has died of a drug overdose in Richmond, just a few hundred metres from the medically supervised injecting room. @CGreenbank9 #9News pic.twitter.com/BXB8xhDR2N
— Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) November 24, 2019
Local MP, Fiona Patten from the Reason Party, defended the facility in the wake of the teenager’s death, saying overdoses of this type are the reason the service exists.
“We are saving hundreds of others and we are saving the families of hundreds of others from going through the pain that that family is going through,” Ms Patten said.
Originally published as Teen boy dies of drug overdose near controversial safe injecting room
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