Is a new opioid crisis about to devastate the UK?

[@minui8758]

9:16 this policeman is an absolute saint. Deeply deeply moving moment

[@Blacktemplar-98]

Couldn’t agree more, his self awareness, challenging his own perspective. These are key attributes that people who are looking to be police officers, need in abundance

[@kayluley3209]

drug consumption rooms....who pays for all this?

[@minui8758]

@@kayluley3209 the tax payer saves millions on policing by it

[@perlaarrebatada9726]

​@@kayluley3209 the same citizens who paid corrupt politicians for decades .....

[@-bret]

Yeah😢

[@Katharine-000]

Wow. A policeman whose first instinct is. ”how can i help you”, not “respect my authoritaaa”. Imagine. He’d never get into the Met

[@InArneSlotWeTrust97]

I can confirm most police are seashores, I suggest up grading spell checker 😂

[@Bullwinkle39]

​@@InArneSlotWeTrust97if you look up now you might just catch the joke 😂

[@LeahDyson-kq4bd]

Only bounty hunters say that

[@davepowell7168]

Eric has dictator potential. Get ******

[@FB-te7do]

Or Wiltshire Police

[@ponyboycurtis3795]

Wow what a credit to himself and the Police force that Cop was in Copenhagen.."im not interested in what you have in your pockets..im interested in how you are today and how can i help you today" the UK Police should take note.

[@robhughes645]

Let's be honest, the average kid in the UK would have zero respect for this man. Everything they've done towards relaxing drug laws in the UK has resulted in the public abusing it and it being reversed. Scandinavians have always been 100 years ahead of the Islanders, be patient

[@crono420]

​@robhughes645 how have they relaxed drug laws? If cannabis were legal it would cause alot less problems and lower alcohol consumption as seen with US states like California. I do understand your point though about the average UK kid not having any respect. This is because of the issues and atrocities UK police have committed over recent years. However if more police adopt more of a helping attitude rather than an authoritarian one, then things will eventually turn around.

[@renegadebikersol2936]

​@crono420 yup. Sensible opinion. I've seen first hand what the effects of drugs are on the streets. The war on drugs is lost already And the people effected goes WAY beyond just the users. Genuine atrocities are happening across Mexico and Latin America cause of the money that can be made. And here in the UK. A different approach is needed

[@BKKNOW1]

The “war on drugs” the longest war the US UK have been involved in, and lost.

[@justbreakingballs]

There is no war on drugs

[@lw1zfog]

hmmmm, but maybe not ‘involved, in precisely the way you think.

[@inbb510]

You can't lose a war that you never fought.

[@lw1zfog]

@@inbb510 you can always win a war in which you control both sides

[@sheep-valley]

​@@lw1zfog legalising & regulating is the only way to retake the lost war on drugs, but the government want the statistics

[@barnaclefelching4079]

Why are we still having this conversation, this should have been in place years ago, first heard about it happening in Switzerland

[@homo-sapiens-dubium]

its saving money by preventing opiod deaths, crime, etc - this should be a no-brainer, for any political party...

[@chavzone]

Because the UK is going backwards in time, not forwards!

[@oryctolaguscuniculus]

@@chavzone Going backwards in time would be good for the UK. From the 1920s to 1971 we had heroin prescribing for addicts. At no time in that period did the number of addicts exceed 3000 *in the entire country*. It was a simple, pragmatic system put into place by rational, decent people acting on the basis of the best available evidence and expert advice, ignoring any dogma, media pressure, or moral panic from an ill-informed public. It was destroyed under pressure from the US which pushed through UN conventions to launch the "war on drugs".

[@peterclarke7240]

@@oryctolaguscuniculus We've also had 14 years in which there's been a complete and total abdication of responsibility by our Dear Leaders, as per the Tory Creed, in which they blame the victims, never the perpetrators who're profiting.

[@Moustache-Gaming]

@@peterclarke7240 whats nfortunate is i dont believe starmer's labour party is going to signifcantly change this. ofc im happy to be proven wrong.

[@billkingston4402]

UK follows USA in many ways, drugs are no different

[@loadapish]

Which is worrying. Dystopia here we come

[@journeyintococo6996]

All the worst ideologies and trends come out of America.

[@billkingston4402]

Rock n Roll and Jazz are the exceptions

[@journeyintococo6996]

@@billkingston4402 - The Blues, too.

[@Sophie-cw7bf]

Yeh it’s bloody stupid and all

[@ricardomarino8554]

The history the officer told was impressive. Quite interesting to know what is the drug problems like from the consumers and local authorities perspective.

[@soutteruk1]

Impressive! Are you a free marketeer, by any chance?

[@mclovin6039]

The war on drugs, instead of the reasons of drug use, has created even worse drugs. Look at the proliferation of Spice, truly awful drug.

[@kanedNunable]

yup. whilst they clamp down on weed which they even admit is ok. crazy.

[@jonathanp89]

Great video, but a caveat, it's not about how many people have to die before calling it a crisis, but who has to die before public health services call it a crisis. We've seen it before with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, and we are on the precipice of seeing it again. And that cop is truly an angel. He sees users as people, not unrecoverable junk.

[@Heligolands]

I have never heard a caring and genuine police officer before. What a great view he has

[@estherlowlands1105]

There already is A heroin epidemic here And has been for years, I guess it doesn't get as much attention compared to another article about JK Rowlings Twitter account

[@Idiot-lf4cj]

if you call heroin an epidemic, what you call then alcohol?

[@jaiadixon7918]

@@estherlowlands1105 and spice is just as bad and fentanyl is here already ,good luck stanmer

[@mclovin6039]

Unfortunately people, right or wrong, are more concerned about a few trans people, then they are of the drug epidemic.

[@DrunkenDemon]

Isnt this all the same? An imaginary society not careing for the weak.

[@gio-oz8gf]

@@jaiadixon7918 Grow up.

[@Narrowboat.and.offgrid.living]

The reason they won't work on the drug issue is because it avoids all tax and drug money runs all the way to the top

[@mochtegerndane7097]

I am afraid, that you are right...

[@donaldburge8392]

Also never going to be a vote winner. Needs a royal commission and fast

[@livpeake8108]

Provide support for the whole human!

[@puppets.and.muppets]

try self responsibility ? im not your parent.

[@123456cullen]

I live in Canada, we have safe injection sites and safe supply/free access to government opioids. These policies have made the issues allot worse. Be careful what you wish for. When I visit the UK, I’m so glad fentanyl is not common there and that government has not implemented the same policies.

[@Hrcbzvz]

I live in Vancouver and that's true, but it's only part of the story. Safe injection sites and harm reduction aren't nearly enough, we also need robust support programs and decent housing, which are sorely lacking in Canada.

[@DaviesFuture]

Attitude to addiction reminds me of my battle with invisible disability. Because you can’t see the persons trauma people assume they can just stop they don’t see that the person had a series of unfortunate events that lead them there. They didn’t think oh yeah I’m going to do that today, things got hard, nobody was there for them, they fell apart, just assume that. They needed to feel better. It can happen to anyone.

[@stevenkraft8070]

I will just say that you do not want to legalize if there is lots of fentanyl in the marketplace. We've tried that in San Francisco and Portland, and it has led to huge increases in addiction and associated mental health issues, robbery, violence and deaths. You need to get monitored housing and treatment set up first.

[@melky3011]

we did it wrong. we *need* treatment, housing, and safe supply. once people get stable lives, have regular access to it (to not be sick) they don't commit crimes to feed their addictions. all the tax dollars going towards fighting this (the wrong way), a fraction of that could be used to treating people with safe supply.

[@redpilledpict2747]

I remember Boots the all night chemist at Piccadilly Circus back in the 60's and the addicts with their scripts.I knew quite a few of them, but the numbers of addicts were relatively low in the UK compared to the coming years. "Ultimately, the answer is that, in 1961, Britain was pressured into signing the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs - a US-led policy formally committing every member state to prohibition."

[@SeraphXS]

they're right, stop labelling them as just 'junkies', most people have no idea what they've gone through, or what they're going through, they're human!

[@jablot5054]

They chose to take drugs. Deal with the consequences.

[@tombimashri8149]

​@@jablot5054 not always the case many never chose hv u ever thought of those who get spiked

[@lenxiabuda8338]

The best way to judge a society is how they treat those less fortunate.. Really shows how English politicians think of ppl with substance abuse problems.. 😢 Denmark is the best!!❤❤

[@az55544]

It's not fortune, it's choices. Unless you're choosing your fortunes.

[@deanr1652]

The UK is not Denmark! This will not work everywhere. There are cultural, societal and political differences that mean decriminalisation and liberalisation of hard drig taking in the UK will likely end the way Canada and many US states have ended up. I applaud Denmark and many Scandinavian countries in the way they make liberalism work but this would not end well in the UK. Take elements of this yes but to think a copy & paste will work here in the UK is niave at best! (From a recovering addict)

[@rxvvy_]

Denmark might excel in this area but it's sorely behind in others. If you're not white and Danish then your experience might not be as great

[@Bluebird19-ll8su]

@@deanr1652 Why do you think this wouldn't work in the UK? Interested in hearing what you have to say?

[@mikebarton]

Wait until people in Britain find out about the massive harm caused by the super widely available drug Alcohol?

[@allikitos]

Is this supposed to be sarcasm in favor of drugs because alcohol is legal?

[@mikebarton]

​@@allikitos No.

[@matthewjdouglas6471]

We know that already

[@tombimashri8149]

Pse could u elaborate which one is the drug alcohol what's ut called pse this way we can warn our familys. X

[@mikebarton]

@@tombimashri8149 alcohol is the psychoactive substance present in wine, beer and spirits.

[@Princess_Paranormal]

That story was so sad. We need to help people in need not hurt them more.

[@cyberjar01]

Definitely true. Nevertheless, evidence proves that it's by doing this way that those people may even THINK of quitting, repression serves no purpose. Just look at the opioid crisis in the US, or just think of what the Netherlands do on drugs, they are 50 years ahead on this. I live in Italy and , rather, there's the same, awful, approach on drugs. Even the cop (policeman!!) in the video seemed to be a nice person, think how crazy this is

[@rashminable]

This is what compassion looks like as a society.

[@MrHorse-by3mp]

I blame Gareth Southgate.

[@NEWCASTLE-UNITED-1892]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@frusia123]

No doubt.

[@ekay4495]

I'm honestly perplexed how the UK is out of money with insane taxes and no healthcare, housing or education that could be called adequate...

[@yonchrr]

What are you talking about. The spend on NHS, social services, housing is insane.

[@ekay4495]

@@yonchrr Yet we get nothing for it, unable to see GP's unable to see specialists for years, dentistry doesn't exist in the UK anymore, schools underfunded and overcrowded. Something is extremely wrong

[@russelhill9721]

It's called the Fourth Industrial Revolution and you can read all about it on the WEF website.

[@Flynbourne]

These social workers are the absolute salt of the earth. What wonderful humans.

[@tarquin161234]

The Danish approach is inspirational. The UK's drug policy is so bad. So frustrating.

[@joyb5525]

Portugal has decriminalised hard drug use and The problem has shrunk. As a therapist, in my experience, it's all about trauma, in this life or inherited. Sexual abuse being the most prevalent. Ear acupuncture, gives the same hit as methodone, and NLP, Timeline Therapy, cuts through deep trauma. But, the Medical/Pharmaceutical industry makes a huge amount of money from the suffering of others. Social support to give hope, ie a decent after care life, is vital. Most middle class addicts, recover and move on.

[@brimzs]

Ear Acuppunture gives the same Hit as Methadone. Absolute garbage. Methadone doesn't give you a hit it comes on gradually .

[@Pawel-rv1ek]

There is no way you are a licensed therapeutist lol

[@MrJason005]

Good video, but it's a shame the journalist didn't visit Glasgow. It's now easier to visit Copenhagen than to visit Glasgow? Come on Guardian... don't forget about Scotland........

[@RyanPreply]

He went to Copenhagen as the centre was set up in 2012. He could talk to people who have been benefitting from the centre for a long period of time. It's new in Glasgow, if it is even open yet, so currently there's not so much information to be gleaned.

[@ETH92]

4:48

[@TomsRandomTat]

Too many white people in Scotland for the Guardian :(

[@StevieZala]

What do you expect? Glasgow is outside of the M25 & north of Watford?

[@jmoz]

Pretty grim doing rehab 30 times and still addicted

[@jaiadixon7918]

That’s just ridiculous

[@ColonelSanders-xo9hp]

​@@jaiadixon7918the truth is ridiculous?

[@ColonelSanders-xo9hp]

Yep, totally agree. I've been in treatment 5+ times and it works for very few people. Most of us end up dead before we reach 30

[@ponyboycurtis3795]

Yeah I'm an addict of over 27 years now and unfortunately I was in and out of residential rehab 6 times before 2005 when I only started using in 1998 but the funding was there back then in the late 90s and early 2000s and places like Weston Supermare and Bristol and Gloucester etc had loads of rehab centres but gradually from about 2008 right up to today in 2024 the funding has gradually been taken and many many rehabs closed and the problem for someone like myself is that when I was too young and not ready the opportunity was there..now I'm older and ready to do it..the opportunity is gone..so I'm just on a maintenance medication programme until maybe one day I can get another shot at rehab.

[@charlenewhittaker1674]

@@ponyboycurtis3795 taper my friend... started myself in 1997 (on 16th birthday) and just made it out over the last couple of years - there was a wave of us around that time eh. I gave up on rehabs after 2006 when i was told to "punish myself" and it was my morals that were out of whack and just to control myself. all rubbish. over the last 5 years i have researched myself the impact on the brain and dopamine receptors of long term use.. we are not fixed after 5 days nor is it all in our heads after a week lol. i was on huge amounts of medication for years (190ml at its highest and blues) ... i reduced to slivers of the current suboxone medication and then started supplements. Once i understood what was really going on i was able to sort it out (took 2 years end to end) these "rehabs" do not know what they are talking about, their methods are archaic and for old skoolers like us the approach is end of life get them smashed on even stronger opioids than what you started off with, then when you fail at a 5 day detox tell you its your fault. A sharp pull you off everything and put your entire body into shock. Do some research online on neuroscience of addiction if you haven't already - it'll be the most helpful thing you ever do! I hope you make it out! Don't give up!

[@mikebarton]

I was at a select committee some years back around drug use. I was particularly struck by one speaker. Their view was _legalise and then educate educate educate_

[@Mark-Haddow]

Remember, Labour were 100% against consumption rooms, in Scotland!

[@SMALLAXE.]

So

[@RyanPreply]

And which parties weren't?

[@jonboymk1bridgemaryfront889]

Haddow WTF? U managed to go all political about a health problem.

[@manmaje3596]

@@jonboymk1bridgemaryfront889It’s not just a health problem.

[@Jamie-cj7hz]

@@jonboymk1bridgemaryfront889the war on drugs is absolutely political

[@oneeleven9832]

Government has never met a problem it couldn’t make worse…

[@Sophie-cw7bf]

Just legalise the original drugs

[@virgilszilagyi]

Not only do they have remarkably advanced solutions compared to the UK, but they all speak perfect English as well.

[@Campaigner82]

Denmark is a role model

[@Jkazic]

In Copenhagen, it's one particular sreet that is known for drugs, adicts, and prostitutes. It's right behind the main train station and it's called Istedgade. It's been a couple of years since I was there, and last time, it was briefly urly in the morning to meet up with a friend that had been staying in a hotel there so he showed me around. And there were many adicts among others going about there day and every one is used to presence of adicts so much so that one particular scene witness where a construction worker was leaning ove this pickup truck eating his lunch while on the other side write in front him stod a lady standing with her head down and a emptied syringe in her neck. That was kind of surreal

[@MoreCowBellBBQ]

The gap in income affects the lower-income citizens for the main part, they are the ones robbed, their kids addicted as well as many others who struggle with self-control and mental sickness. Meanwhile, the country struggles to support these people due to a lack of budgeting and, at the same time invests billions into Ukraine and illegal entries and universal payments for those of working health and age but struggle from mental disabilities.

[@richardmurphy9006]

My elderly Mum once said seeing a drug rehab centre on TV "O it's a religious pilgrimage site" I was 🤔 gobsmacked

[@archerediting]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Tailssonic1999x]

I hope so. All the gear I've been getting recently has been shite

[@youtubyoutub2304]

After 2017 using anything besides bud or actual pharmacy scripts is not worth it, every pill every bag of whatever it’s just not legit

[@gadgetgus]

⚠️ Sad, but true... However, we need to prepare properly for this oncoming storm and work more collectively as a society to help mitigate these real issues...

[@arthur1670]

Its not smuggled through the dark web. It comes in shipping containers, lorries, bag's, packages ....

[@chrisnunya4015]

The only way to stop it is to eliminate the demand for it, And as an addict I can tell you confidently that is never going to happen! You can't help ppl that don't want help.

[@gerardcurtis3911]

Yeah, when all those homeless camped outside the library it sucked for everyone. Now they have been moved it doesn't.

[@010101110100]

Not a lot about the vectors of the supply in this vid

[@TherepublicofLuton]

This crises was completely predictable when the Tory’s ordered the decommissioning of harm reduction services in favour of ‘recovery’ services . In 2014 I actually go suspended for pointing in out to commissioners what would happen . Here in Luton we had the lowest rate of overdose in the region and worked closely with other statutory agencies to address associated community safety issues. Now, like so many places , problematic drug use is everywhere and overdose has rocketed . The services we provided , literally, were saving millions because people were not out begging (which deters people from coming into the town to spend money ) and there wasn’t the need to be out ‘making raises’ to support their habits . As one of the architects forcing through the recovery agenda I’d love to hear what Iain Duncan Smith has to say now because he has a huge amount to answer for .

[@lw1zfog]

Tony BLiar employed Dr David Nutt to run the numbers years ago, but HMGOV clearly didn’t like the resultant findings, binned the research & sacked him off pronto.

[@roryboyes2307]

Why is the black market turning to such a potent & dangerous analogue? Because it's incredibly lucrative. I find it hard to imagine a regulated market also, but until the legislators take the intitiative to begin speaking openly about the potential solutions, rather than looking the other way in fear that they will be critisized for attempting to actually be progressive, then the blood is on their hands, & there will be blood. If you can't grow a pair then you have no purpose, only existing to further perpetuate our clearly defective societal norms. If you can't take the fall now, then you'll have to take it later, living with the guilt that you could have at least tried to find a solution. The cowardice is unforgivable.

[@AshTownsend]

It's called Starmeritus - stimulates the anger glands until you're overwhelmed by your own hatred.

[@gorillafilmmakernow]

Love how you open up with Afghan poppy fields and not American doctors and the Pharma industry 😂

[@DinoWaffen]

This isn't about America

[@Maya-db4wf]

@@DinoWaffen they mention America, there is huge responsibility for opioid crisis

[@DinoWaffen]

@@Maya-db4wf why would American doctors be responsible for UK opiate use?

[@bigbelix]

Was about to roast bro about the scooter until i saw it was a mobility one 😂

[@SamWilkinsonn]

don’t let it stop ya! Equality and all that

[@YuckFoutube-e1z]

All scooters are mobility scooters. As in they make one mobile.

[@charlytaylor1748]

Marijuana... used for thousands of years, banned for less than 100. Very odd decision if alcohol and tobacco and some opioids are still legal.

[@fearghal10]

Dunno why it was easier for the Guardian to go to Tower Hamlets and fucking Denmark than to Scotland for a story that essentially seems to be set in Glasgow.

[@GM-tw4el]

Because there aren't many real homeless that sleep rough in Glasgow, most of them are addicts getting money for a fix, or organised Roma gypsy gangs. I gave a beggar a couple of fags and a traffic warden asked me if I'd given him any money m, and I said no. He said the only 2 rough sleepers are up at Strathclyde uni and at rhe art school. We don't have a homeless problem in Scotland.

[@RyanPreply]

He went to Copenhagen as the centre was set up in 2012. He could talk to people who have been benefitting from the centre for a long period of time. It's new in Glasgow, if it is even open yet, so currently there's not so much information to be gleaned.

[@ETH92]

4:48

[@pamelaadam9207]

We have been trying to get consumption rooms in Scotland fir years and westminster kept blocking it finally Glasgow got the ok heres hoping it can roll out

[@geralldus]

In an increasingly atomised and individualistic society we are free to choose how we act, so gender, lifestyle, presentation etc are all free choices. Drug use, increasingly normalised by the media, is also seen as a choice and the fact that it has powerful, often painful drivers, tends to be ignored. So it is a symptom of a problem and not an actual problem in itself. So, like homelessness, poverty and so much else it will be superficially acknowledged as a problem but being outside of the mainstream will never be addressed.

[@travis3430]

The real underlying issues are ignored as they are criticising the system we're pretty much forced to live in. Rampant individualism which you stated is a massive one. Also, the breakdown of communities including workplace community & working from home, rise in single parent households (parenting is tough with 2 parents never mind just the one), feeling of hopelessness & lack of ability to affect your life positively. Also the scramble for attention & poor dating scene on offer today. Like Gabor Mate says, western society creates the perfect conditions for despair

[@martincotterill823]

Great journalism!

[@bigdaz7272]

Our mental Health, prison and probation services are so utterly destroyed its inevitable at this point we will suffer the Zombie Apocalypse nation wide now not just the big cities. There is just too much trauma and destitution now some people have nowhere else to turn but try to escape reality however they can.

[@duckpk10]

So the main problem driving all of this is legality and prohibition... Been saying this for over 10 years now. Wonder if the government have any interest in doing what's right...

[@deanr1652]

Won't work in the UK. You have my word. See Canada for what will happen here. We need to realise we all have different cultures, societies and political expectations. What works for Denmark will likely not work in Brazil or Nigeria or the UK!!

[@duckpk10]

@@deanr1652 what won't work and also what do you mean by won't work?

[@abum4595]

scotland has had safe use policies for decades. I don't know why they're saying this is a new thing. It has had very little effect on drug deaths

[@earlygirl24]

So even junkies can speak English in Denmark 😮

[@leetlbt]

English is the language of the new world order

[@alfonzo7822]

They are taught English right through school, it's not a surprise 😅

[@lumailisa]

I think we need to talk about distress in society, what is causing it and how we as a society deal with it. The gap between the rich & poor Drug use is a naturally maladaptive coping strategy, people check out because they are dissatisfied or struggling with the realities of life. For many it is trying to manage mental health conditions. Many, many causes The solution isn't to legalise drugs it is to look at the causes why people take them in the first place, and put in policies to ameliorate those societal pressures And we need to talk about the knock on effects on family and wider society because no one lives in a vacuum. Drug use negatively affects those around the drug user. We all suffer So many pressures on society these days

[@nairemlap533]

“I kill myself, or I take my drugs” That encompasses addiction so well. God bless that policeman, an incredible man

[@tomtrevessey3620]

Destroying the poppy feilds led to fentenal. And now we have an even worse problem

[@chompachangas]

Did opioid deaths spike when they started cracking down on prescriptions and OTC codeine? I bet they did. People are gonna do whatever it is they need to do to get up and go to work.

[@aubreychatriot9617]

Note that the addicts they interviewed in Copenhagen all spoke English. Humans, intelligent people, suffering. They deserve better.

[@ozzyg82]

I would like it to have been made clearer - what, exactly, did the German drug clinic help improve, not just anecdotally, but in the bigger picture - it's sort of hinted at that it's of financial benefit to the state, and helps prevent OD? And he doesn't go into what doesn't the clinic change - he said that, despite there being some improvements, there are still the same drug-related problems post the clinic's opening in 2012 - what are those?

[@CatatonicImperfect]

Denmark. But Germany has them too. Here's from a 2012 report by the International Drug Policy Consortium (a UK NGO) I found on the website of the National Drugs Library (an Irish public institution). Plop any sentence into Google to get the pdf. DCR = drug consumption room. "The most recent extended evaluation report on DCRs was issued in 2010 by the accounting firm KPMG in Sydney, Australia, on the DCR trial period 2007-2011.6 The report suggests that: • The DCR had a positive impact on reducing drug overdoses • It functioned as gateway towards drug dependence treatment • It reduced significantly the security problems related to injecting in public settings and discarded needles • It contributed to a decline in new HIV and hepatitis C infections. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) published two extensive reports on DCRs. These reports reviewed available evidence about the effects of DCRs and concluded that they: • Reach out to vulnerable groups and are accepted by their target groups, communities and other key actors • Help to improve the health status of people who use drugs and reduce high-risk behaviour • Can reduce overdose deaths • May have an impact on HIV and hepatitis C virus infection rates, although more evidence is needed to prove this effect • Can reduce drug use in open spaces and related nuisance, if this measure is part of a comprehensive local strategy."

[@grizcuz]

It wasn't in Germany, it was in Denmark. Such things can be difficult to quantify. But just the availability of clean injection equipment means less chances of infection and cross contamination from sharing needles. These things invariably cost more money to treat than prevent.

[@bugsygoo]

Hmmm. You maybe didn't listen too well. I mean, you didn't even get the country right. And he said that there were 1300 overdoses and zero deaths. That sounds like a pretty good improvement to me.

[@Skygrey2943]

​@grizcuz Some places in the UK provide limited diamorphine assisted treatment where people get to inject pharmaceutical grade heroin in small treatment centres like this. However, I heard it is just a pilot scheme. I don't know if it continued since I stopped using. Also, clean works are also available for free in the UK. I believe it was Maggie that started that initiative here. It's perhaps the one good thing she did do. Drug treatment on the NHS has been outsourced to private companies, and some are better than others. I know that these private companies have slightly different protocol for treating patients depending on the Local Authority.. The one I still use for methadone is supposed to be one of the better ones.

[@theworldaccordingto4555]

@ozzyg82 Possibly some of the problems that have continued, post the clinic's opening, are things like homelessness/accommodation, lack of therapy and aftercare for those wishing to completely clean themselves up? Often hard drug use causes people to end up with criminal records, which in turn hold's many users/ex-users back from gaining any meaningful employment and housing or quality of life etc. Plus maybe (I guessing somewhat) there are not enough mental health services and places in those services for those who have deep rooted issues, issues that the drugs were a form of self medicating for. In the UK we have a major shortage of mental health services, and that is without even taking into account what would be needed should the UK finally treat drug dependency as a health & social health issue, rather than a criminal issue.

[@boiledelephant]

We're an island, though. It shouldn't be this hard to control illegal drug imports.

[@GangstaNanna]

Make it LEGAL

[@nucleja]

I have been trying to raise awareness for fent and particularly zenes for the past 8 years and even my support workers wouldn't take me seriously until now. disgusting way addicts are treated here, it you are on any opioid that isn't heroin (yes even oxy, even codeine) then you won't get any medical assistance. the same is true of fent and zenes. we are going to see people absolutely lost with no where to turn for help. we are already reliant on charities for medical therapy.

[@the_birthday_skeleton]

This Draconian [W]Law Against Drugs has just failed so badly, that should our Govt. no longer so desperately seek the USA’s approval in every little thing we do I believe we would have already decriminalised drugs. Furthermore, I believe that in cases of opiate/opioid addiction we would have gone back to ‘The English Method’ to help treat opiate-addiction, which was highly effective, more more than methadone or subs. I am an addict, have been for ten years and I’ve never stolen to or committed a crime to feed my heroin addiction, I work in a government building (can’t say which) and I volunteer one a week.

[@ayebing]

I certainly don’t know the solution, but I’ll never see how making it easier for people to do drugs helps them get off drugs.

[@MrYungKitty]

Its supposed to make it safer, cant get off drugs if your dead.

[@sarahgodfrey2115]

Glasgow has the Highest death rate in Europe!!! What!!!! How!!! And WHY??

[@i.i4115]

Already here in London

[@krzysiukrul1183]

Helping drug addicts is not profitable so not happening in this capitalist dystopia.

[@Birthhammer]

Was this mainly an advert for Naloxone?

[@LuKaZz420]

Legalize and tax

[@austingode]

Why did I ever leave Denmark?!? …. The most amazing country I have ever lived in …. I tracked a stolen iPhone to that injection station , it’s in the old meat packing station of Copenhagen. The phone did not move for hours , so we tried again the next day but the location was too general and the people around were dodgy … an adventure of sorts

[@Finebyme123]

Easy accessible testing kits

[@sureshot2857]

All by design

[@martinogold]

Incel alert 🚨

[@frusia123]

The world is a bit more complex. Tolerance for complexity is important in life.

[@henrywood-beard]

Denmark has the right idea about drug policing, everyone else take note

[@stannats2637]

Ah that’s why they invaded Afghanistan

[@paulusfransen1708]

Denmark, one of those rare places where common sense is actually common.

[@bumberClart1000]

It never went away. 😢

[@MrMarcolife1]

Well well well 3 years clean 😢

[@rubensano4860]

Shayla Schlossenberg. Well, well, well.

[@anonmousy5264]

What about her?

[@Mounhas]

Switzerland experienced problems with open use and needles discarded in I believe, Geneva. It was solved by making sure users could have safe doses in a clinical environment, it worked as I believe. England will be light years behind enlightened countries, hopefully the new govt could grasp the horns.

[@aliverbirduponmychest3055]

Wow, a police officer whose first instinct is how can I be a force for good, how can I best help this situation instead of the usual aggressive, huge ego, dishonest police officers with a very, very limited knowledge of the law more than happy to victimise the public! If the police focused their efforts on policing criminality rather than trying to raise money through traffic fines or supporting bailiffs then maybe our streets would be a safer place

[@sudarshan1655]

Ngl that green tank charity gal is a total baddie fr fr.

[@tonybarden9187]

Money & greed fuelling the misery of millions.

[@OliThaTwist]

That's called society

[@luciengordon5527]

Go to Frankfurt it’s already in Europe won’t be long until Bristol, London, Manchester and other uk drug hubs.

[@vintagecherries]

Europe is years ahead. America should take some notes on how to deal with the drug epidemic.

[@ghostape]

Just how are people going to get out of this mess? Politicians and governments are too busy lining their own pockets to take time, patience and a soul to try and make a difference. And the reason why it's not proper heroin is because the 'world police' pulled out of afghanistan. What a world we live in! Such a shame coz we are all beautiful and have so much to offer...the world is an easy fix but people with money tend to enjoy a good crisis in society as somewhere down the line, it continues to make them money.

[@thaimanclark]

Spent 2 years in a Opium den in Mumbai 1971.

[@zahraansari3710]

The problems doesn't stop at people who are addicted. But affects their families and society where they live as crime rises like prostitution and theft to pay for the drugs. STD increases and now you have a multi angled monster freak crisis. I think we should be like Malaysia with drugs. Extremely hard

[@ScottThompson-fi7sz]

legalization is onky way

[@mattm3400]

Couldn't agree more x

[@OsirusHandle]

how would you legalise it, the same way as tobacco? that has caused a hundred million deaths?

[@AdamOBrien29]

​@@OsirusHandle legalisation doesn't mean it'll be sold in every shop 😅

[@OsirusHandle]

@@AdamOBrien29 ok but who manufactures it and where do you sell it. weed has its own dedicated shops but theyre everywhere where its legal, no different to tobacco. tobacco and booze also have dedicated shops.

[@mattm3400]

@@OsirusHandle look up johann hari, he makes a compelling argument for it x

[@latinfly1977]

Naloxone doesn't work on the new synthetic opioids that are out there now!

[@FlamingDragon-fz1bp]

Belligerents: - Humanity with trillions of pounds and billions of people armed and ready. - A plant Plant winning

[@NathanSvensson]

And what is the income tax rate in Denmark?

[@larsbjrnson3101]

It's high but the standard of living is higher than the UK.

[@NathanSvensson]

@@larsbjrnson3101 I understand. I was just lazily comparing the tax differences. Denmark has the infrastructure to accommodate this form of combatting street drug use and addiction. No other country outside of Scandinavia has the infrastructure or ability to increase taxes that would enable this sort of remedy without causing society to have a meltdown. Look at San Francisco and Portland. They tried something similar but without the socialist infrastructure at its foundation. Now those cities are cesspits.

[@larsbjrnson3101]

@@NathanSvensson Scandinavians pay our taxes gnowing it is spent wisely. I'm for a human approach to drug users aswell and to see it as a health and not a criminal issue.

[@chavzone]

@@NathanSvensson Portugal has been doing it just fine for years. The video quite clearly explained that it pays for itself in public medical savings as well. So quite blatantly false

[@CodexGigas773]

If you reach out to take drugs in the first place, you are not worthy of the gift of life.

[@johnloveday2161]

People are dying from this !

[@cerealoffender4000]

Safe use hubs with safe drugs are the only way to stop fentanyl taking hold in the UK!

[@Bmthbabe23]

Lets face it, the drugs are part of a much bigger picture. the war on drugs never existed the NSA has all communications.