Dear Teddy,

many thanks for contacting us with your question about the objectives of
supervised drug consumption rooms (which you name "shooting galleries") -
in French: "Salles de consommation controlée à moindre risques".
Drug consumption rooms (DCRs) are professionally supervised healthcare
facilities where drug users can use drugs in safer and more hygienic
conditions.
So - in response to your question: why open such facilities when drugs are
prohibited: the main objective is to reduce the harm related to the use of
drugs.

There are currently about 90 such facilities across 60 cities in Germany,
Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Luxembourg. They
seek to attract hard-to-reach populations of drug users, especially
marginalised groups and those who use drugs on the streets or in other
risky and unhygienic conditions. DCRs have mostly been established in
specific urban settings with problems of public drug use or where there
are sub-populations of drug users with limited possibilities of hygienic
injection (e.g. homeless, living in insecure accommodation or
shelters).They aim to reduce morbidity and mortality by providing a safe
environment for more hygienic drug use and by training clients in safer
drug use. At the same time, they seek to reduce public drug use and to
improve public amenity in areas surrounding urban drug markets. A further
aim is to promote access to social, health and drug treatment facilities. 
Drug consumption rooms represent a highly specialised part of
comprehensive drug help systems and exist in cities where a wide range of
other treatment and prevention facilities is already in place. Supervised
consumption facilities are typically integrated into wider health- and
drug service providers offering a range of other services, including drug
treatment.
 
The EMCDDA is documenting the drug situation and responses to the drugs
problem in the EU Member States and Norway and has published in 2004 a
detailed report
(see:[1]http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/html.cfm/ind...). In a book
published by the agency in 2010, available evidence about these facilities
has been summarised (see chapter attached). In sum, evidence shows that
DCRs succeed in reaching their target populations and achieve immediate
improvements in terms of better hygiene and safer use for clients who use
the services. Benefits of such facilities include improvements in safe,
hygienic drug use, especially among regular clients, increased access to
health and social services, and reduced public drug use and associated
nuisance. Research has documented that the availability of safer injecting
facilities does not increase drug use or frequency of injecting, it
facilitates rather than delays treatment entry, and does not result in
higher rates of local drug-related crime.As with other services for drug
users, such as needle and syringe programmes, consultation with local key
actors like neighbours or police is essential to make them successful
parts of the local response to drug problems.

As you live in France, you may be interested in an expertise in French
language about the topic, which I attach.

I hope you find this answer helpful,

Sincerely, Dagmar Hedrich

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