There is a lot to learn from the Dutch example when it comes to preventing overdoses and infections. DU News, member of the Drugreporter video network visits a complex drop-in centre in Amsterdam. Watch the video!
The Dutch tend to treat life easier, and a result it often turns out better, and easier, and safer. Perhaps because of this pragmatic attitude, as well as because they accept the world as it is, everything in the Netherlands is so good when it comes to harm reduction services.
(Turn on English subtitles by clicking on the CC button at the right bottom of the video.)
In Amsterdam, there are 24 drop-in-centres and 3 drug-consumption rooms, all with free access. The initiators of the creation of these rooms were police officers. There are 32 such rooms and hundreds of low-threshold centres throughout the country. For a small country this is a very significant number, which cannot fail to impress. But most of all, the Dutch people’s approach to solving such issues is impressive. In our opinion, this is a mixture of healthy pragmatism with a desire to live in harmony with the world around us, without any attempts to forcefully change it, or to strive for some illusory ideal.
We managed to visit one of the drop-in-centres in Amsterdam and talk with a member of staff about what a drug room is, how it works, and what’s the point.
DU News
