Labor’s bill to make the injecting room permanent passed unamended about 10pm on Thursday with support from the Greens,Legalise Cannabis,Animal Justice and the Liberal Democrats.
Anindependent report by John Ryan recommended the Lennox Street facility become permanent and found it had achieved its foremost objective of saving lives,but that it had not overcome broader amenity challenges from the pre-existing drug market.
“While there have been fewer overdoses requiring ambulance attendance in the area,public injecting and inappropriate discarding of needles and syringes remain a challenge,” the report said.
A small group of residents opposed to its location next to the Richmond West Primary School protested on the steps of the Victorian Parliament on Thursday and said they had not been listened to in their open letter to MPs.
“It’s okay for the government to admit they have made a mistake,” the letter said. “All our community has ever wanted was to work with the government to find a solution that properly balanced the safety and wellbeing of residents and those who use supervised injecting facilities.”
Proponents argue the facility has to be where drug users are,and that residents were already exposed to injecting and overdoses in the hotspot before it opened. Astate coroner recommended the trial go ahead in North Richmond after a spate of heroin-related deaths nearby.