Safe injection room to stay open longer in bid to stem street drug taking

Opening North Richmond’s controversial safe injection room for three more hours every day is just one of the new plans from the State Government to tackle the rise of street drug-taking in the area.

North Richmond’s controversial safe injection room will open for three more hours every day as the State Government moves to tackle the growing heroin menace.

New street patrols will also be launched to help users while better lighting will be installed around the neighbourhood’s public housing towers and car parks.

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Mental Health Minister Martin Foley and Richmond MP Richard Wynne also announced that former police commissioner Ken Lay would join the centre’s review panel.

The extended hours will begin when the new injection centre building, under construction next to North Richmond Community Health centre, is completed by mid-year. The current injection room operates out of converted space in the NRCH building.

The new centre will be open an hour earlier and two hours later every day — from 7am to 9pm on weekdays, and 8am to 7pm on weekends.

The trial safe injection room opened in the North Richmond Community Health building last July. Picture: Jason Edwards

The Herald Sun revealed in February that paramedics were attending five overdose call-outs a week with many occurring when the centre was closed.

An average of 200 addicts use the supervised injection room every day and the centre is credited with reversing more than 650 overdoses.

“The medically supervised injecting room is doing exactly what it was designed to do — save lives,’’ Mr Foley said.

Security patrols would increased and outreach services doubled to help people with drug addiction, Mr Wynne said.

“We’ve listened to the community and will provide more security patrols and better lighting in the area.”

Mr Lay was Victoria Police commissioner between 2011 and 2015 and later was chairman on the Prime Minister’s Ice Taskforce.

Former police commissioner Ken Lay.

Mental Health Minister Martin Foley.

Mr Lay will replace Associate Professor Alex Cockram, who is now Commissioner for the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.

A Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman said the current and new medically supervised injecting rooms were funded as part of the $87 million drug rehabilitation plan.

The action comes after Yarra Council this week committed up to $300,000 more to remove discarded syringes and faeces from the streets of North Richmond and South Abbotsford.

@IanRoyall