Aalborg Municipality has decided for the second year in a row not to apply for state funding for a drug consumption room, arguing that the need in the city is not large enough.
The plan for a so-called fixerum in central Aalborg has stalled again, DR reports. Such a room would allow drug users to take their substances under supervision, get advice on safer use and receive emergency first aid.
The municipality’s Job and Social Affairs Councilor, Peter Larsen of SF, states that the need is not big enough. According to DR, the administration examined the question and found the target group in Aalborg relatively limited. Larsen says the city should not set up a service simply because a state funding pool exists.
The decision means Aalborg has skipped the state pool for two consecutive years. As reported by Nordjyske, a majority on Aalborg City Council settled the matter at a meeting on Wednesday evening. Nordjyske notes that the state had offered to cover about half of the costs.
Kirkens Korshær disagrees
A drug consumption room has long been on the wish list of Kirkens Korshær in Aalborg. The organization’s acting national head, Jonas Jacobsen, tells DR that a large city like Aalborg will always need such a room with an attached health room. He argues this is the best way to reach the group in question.
Aalborg Municipality’s administration points to a fall in the number of injection drug users in the city. Jacobsen says other drug users also need help and advice, and that the debate should not be limited to people who inject. He notes that the rooms also serve people who take drugs in other ways.
Jacobsen, a former leader of the Kirkens Korshær drop-in center in Aalborg, says his experience from the street points in a different direction. He tells DR that it is not correct to say the need is absent. He refers to what staff see at the organization’s drop-in center in the city, which serves homeless people and others.
Kirkens Korshær currently operates drug consumption rooms in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Vejle. According to DR, the organization has run the room in Odense Municipality since 2013. Jacobsen refers to experience from the capital and the other locations when describing what the service can offer.
Peter Larsen’s stance leaves Aalborg without a supervised site for drug use for now. The state pool remains open to municipalities that choose to apply, per DR’s reporting on the funding scheme.
