Former police chief commissioner Ken Lay’s recommendation to trial a second injecting room,in Melbourne’s CBD,has been rejected outright because the government doesn’t believe it can find a site that balances the needs of drug users with community and business concerns.
Instead,the CBD will receive a new community health hub,pharmacotherapy services will be boosted in up to 30 locations in Victoria and vending machines will be rolled out that offer overdose-reversing medicines.
Allan will sell this as a pragmatic approach to drug harm that acknowledges the scale of the problem without pushing the boundaries of community expectations. It also aims to put a full stop on a political debate that has raged since the first injecting room,in North Richmond,was trialled in 2018.
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On Tuesday,Allan said she was proud the government had set up that first site,which is to receive more resources,but categorically put a line under the debate about having a second facility,in the CBD or anywhere else in Victoria.
This may seem incongruous,but it’s clear she does not want the saga to drag on any further and thinks there are other ways to improve results for drug users.
The second injecting room was one of the last challenges carried over from the Andrews era. As premier,Andrews knew how difficult the issue was when in 2022 he sent Ken Lay back to do further work on the impact on CBD businesses. Andrews had the final report for six months before he left politics – but did not act on it,leaving it as Allan’s problem to solve.