Cllr Georgia Wrighton

Green councillors in Brighton and Hove are urging the Labour Government to honour its pledge to roll out clinics for the prescription of injectable heroin, following the success of a recent pilot scheme in Brighton and Hove and other cities that saw substantial reductions in the use of street heroin and in drug-related crimes.
 
Cllr Georgia Wrighton is seeking  Brighton and Hove City Council’s backing for the Greens call at this week’s council meeting. Her call comes a month after the city, which is home to around 2,300 injecting heroin addicts, was named the  UK ’s ‘Drugs Death Capital’ for the sixth time in eight years.
 
Cllr Wrighton said:
“The Government promised to roll out more clinics, if the pilot was successful. We now urge them to keep that promise as a matter of urgency.

“The National Drugs Strategy includes the pledge that if a pilot scheme which saw ‘hard to treat’ heroin addicts given prescription heroin in supervised clinics alongside psychological support and help with housing and social needs succeeds, the Government would roll out clinics like this across the UK.
 
“The results are in – and they’ve been described as spectacular. Of those involved, three quarters ‘substantially’ reduced their use of street heroin, more than half were ‘largely abstinent’ and 1 in 5 did not use street heroin at all. The pilot also saw a drastic cut in crime – three quarters of crack and heroin users are thought to commit crime to feed their habits.
 
“It’s clear this is just the kind of approach that, followed sensibly, could help cut the scale of our city’s drug problem and the number of deaths we see amongst injecting heroin users year after year. While the council, Sussex Police and drugs workers do much to tackle the harm caused by drug addiction locally - not only to those addicted but also their friends, families and the wider community - it’s clear we need to try something new in addition to providing frontline services.
 
“I hope the Government will honour its pledge to take an evidence based approach to tackling drugs.
 
"This is not just about helping those addicted - but also about cutting the costs to the wider community. Society’s drug problem affects us all."

For more information about the Greens view: www.brightonandhovegreenparty.org.uk