Figure 1: Non-safe-injection site behind Paris’ Gare du Nord, February 2016 (all photos by author).The first time I ever saw a person shooting up was right behind Paris’s Gare du Nord railway station in 2015. He was crouched in front of the low concrete wall in the picture (Figure 1). I had met André[1] when I volunteered at …
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2021) estimated that, worldwide, 269 million people used drugs in 2018, a 30% increase since 2009. In the same period, the number of people with drug use disorders has risen to between 35 and 50 million. The massive increase in drug use has also led to a significant impact on the users’ …
When I did my second shift of volunteering at the Hostel[1], new rules were already in place: ‘stay-at-home’ orders had been issued and were enforceable (if not necessarily enforced) by police all over the UK. I arrived to prepare dinner for all the guests and was surprised to see so many people in the Lounge, the main hang-out area for everyone at the Hostel, waiting …