Porto’s assisted consumption room admitted 431 new users between March and May, with the majority of drug addicts using the space for smoked consumption, the program’s third quarter report reveals today.
The quarterly report of the Porto Watched Consumption Program, published on the website of the Northern Regional Health Administration (ARS-Norte) and consulted by Lusa, reveals that of the 431 new users admitted, only 11.4% are female.
“The month of March was the most expressive period in terms of the number of users attending the program and the number of consumptions made since its inception,” reads the report, which adds that in April and May there was a “progressive decrease” in these indicators.
“This operation may be related to the police operation to combat drug trafficking that began on April 20 and has remained active since that date in the Pasteleira Nova neighborhood, with a daily presence of police officers,” he said.
Between March 1 and May 31, 15,706 consumptions were made, maintaining the “trend already seen previously regarding the preference for the smoked consumption route”: 10,099 smoked consumptions (87.7%) and 5,607 injected (12.3%).
In this period there is also “a prevalence of the combination of Heroin + Crack”, a substance consumed by almost half of users (49%).
This substance is followed by crack use, reported by 171 users, and heroin by 50 users.
No overdose episodes were recorded during the period under review, “so there was no need for emergency support”.
The report also indicates that 16,100 needles and syringes were used, and 52,800 syringes and needles were made available for use outside the consumption room.
Program users collected 28,260 needles and syringes.
Between March and May, 67 decentralized infectiology consultations were also carried out and 15 users started treatment.
Porto’s assisted consumption room started operating on August 24, 2022, about two years after the approval of the Watched Consumption Program.
In July 2020, the Porto City Council approved the Watched Consumption Program, resulting from the cooperation between the municipality, the Service for Intervention in Addictive Behaviors and Dependencies (SICAD), the Social Security Institute and the Regional Health Administration of the North (ARS-N) for the creation of responses of this type in the city.
With a maximum capacity of 15 users simultaneously, Porto’s assisted consumption room, located in the place known as ‘Viela dos Mortos’, is open from 10:00 to 20:00, seven days a week.
