NORTH Wales’ police and crime commissioner has continued his campaign for “safe spaces” for drug users to inject themselves.

Police boss Afron Jones is urging the UK Government to do a U-turn on their opposition to so-called drug consumption rooms (DCRs) where drug addicts can inject themselves safely and hygienically.

Drug Consumption Rooms have been used effectively in Switzerland, Portugal and Austria but the Government has rejected the proposal to trial them in the UK despite the fact that drug-related deaths are at an all-time high.

North Wales police and crime commissioner Arfon Jones, Durham commissioner Ron Hogg and West Midlands commissioner David Jamieson have co-signed a letter to Victoria Atkins MP, the minister for crime, safeguarding and vulnerability, saying they are “deeply concerned” about the Government’s continued opposition to the introduction of DCRs.

They hit out after a letter from Ms Atkins’ predecessor, Sarah Newton MP, to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs claimed that DCRs were legally problematic, posed ethical issues for medical professionals and difficulties for the police.

According to the commissioners, the Government letter also quoted a report which showed that DCRs increase access to social, health and drug treatment services as well as targeting difficult, hard-to-reach drug users and provided a safer injecting environment.

The letter to Ms Atkins from the commissioners follows a visit by Mr Jones and Durham police and crime commissioner Ron Hogg to Geneva to see at first-hand how a similar facility had also led to a decline in the illicit heroin trade.

As a long-time advocate of drug consumption rooms, Mr Jones, a former police inspector, believes that addiction should be treated as a medical issue and not as a crime.

He said: “It’s totally unacceptable that we’re losing 2,500 people in the UK who are dying every year through drug-related deaths, especially when many of those deaths are preventable if only we put in simple harm reduction measures.”

“I worked as a police officer for more than 30 years and saw at first hand the heart-breaking damage that drugs cause to those who are addicted, their families and friends.

“It’s a self-destructive vicious circle.

“People who are addicted to drugs often steal so they can buy their next fix.

“They are arrested, prosecuted and sent to prison.

“They come out of prison still addicted and the cycle starts all over again just like a horror version of Groundhog Day.

“You can’t force somebody into treatment or rehabilitation until they’re ready.

“That’s the nature and the power of addiction so in the meantime we should have things in place for harm reduction to protect problematic drug users.”