Bogota fights heroin overdoses with South America's only supervised drug consumption room

BOGOTA – The near limb of Christian Camilo Amaya is tattooed with a skull pierced by a syringe, which helium says represents the usage of cocaine and heroin. He often changeable up connected streets of Bogota, but helium has precocious switched to South America's lone supervised country for cause use, aimed astatine reducing harm and preventing overdoses.

Non-profit enactment Accion Tecnica Social runs the supervised country named Cambie (or Change successful English) successful Colombia's capital. Since it opened successful June 2023, 14 users had their overdoses treated with injections of naloxone, a cause that reverses overdoses. The past specified lawsuit was a twelvemonth ago.

Amaya often carries a achromatic integrative container with much than a twelve utilized syringes, which helium puts successful a reddish instrumentality for biologic waste, arsenic protocols for utilizing the country dictate. He denies being addicted to heroin, but argues the supervised country gives him syringes and grooming connected hygienic injections and overdose prevention.

“I cognize what substances bash to me, truthful I cognize I shouldn’t beryllium a predominant idiosyncratic for that precise reason, to debar becoming addicted,” Amaya told The Associated Press successful the unmarked cause usage country successful 1 of the city’s impoverished neighborhoods.

The inaugural is 1 of the topics of the International Conference connected Harm Reduction, which started Sunday successful Bogota. It is the archetypal clip the league has been held successful Latin America successful the past 3 decades, arsenic the leftist medication of President Gustavo Petro pushes for a revision successful the planetary cause power strategy of the United Nations.

The supervised depletion country presently has 87 registered users, 26% of whom are Venezuelan migrants, who travel to inject themselves oregon person syringes, food, guidance connected lower-risk injection techniques, oregon overdose management.

Of the users who travel to the room, 91% usage heroin, 7% inject cocaine, and little than 2% usage speedballs, a substance of cocaine and heroin. Official information connected heroin usage successful Colombia is scarce.

The task was calved successful 2022 erstwhile organizers started contacting users straight to place their needs. It received method proposal from different countries, particularly Mexico.

For David Moreno, who works astatine Cambie, the astir hard portion of reversing an overdose is not injecting the naloxone but avoiding a follow-up overdose.

“Once I had a idiosyncratic who would get precise convulsive erstwhile she came backmost from an overdose. She would commencement hurting herself, past she would instrumentality disconnected my overgarment and necktie it, and I’d person to restrain her,” said Moreno.

“When it happens, I americium calm. But erstwhile the idiosyncratic leaves... Wow, my adrenaline rushes.”

Sam Rivera, the executive-director of OnPoint, a nonprofit enactment successful New York City that operates supervised injection centers, toured the small, astir 65-foot country with 3 diligent cubicles earlier AP's visit.

“I look astatine it arsenic a mini mentation of what we’re doing,” Rivera said. He argues the inaugural is besides bully for nationalist security.

“I ever archer radical to travel sojourn an overdose prevention center. When you perceive astir it, it sounds unsafe oregon it sounds atrocious due to the fact that it sounds similar you’re enabling radical to use," helium added. “These are radical who are going to use. So alternatively of utilizing outside, successful danger, leaving these supplies successful the street, everything happens inside, everything stays inside.”

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