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Annual Conference 2002
Homelessness and Problem Drug Use - Two Faces of Exclusion
Conference Report
Homelessness and problem drug use have traditionally been treated as two separate social issues. Homelessness has been seen primarily as a housing problem and problem drug use has been seen as either a criminal matter or as a health issue.
For some time there has been recognition that there is some overlap between the two problems - homeless service providers have realised that increasing numbers of people using their services are drug users. Similarly persons working in the drugs services have been aware that many of their clients are currently homeless or are living in insecure accommodation and are vulnerable to becoming homeless. We decided to organise a conference which addressed both of these issues. The idea was to facilitate practitioners and policy makers to learn from best practice in each respective area.
The conference, entitled Homelessness and Problem Drug Use - Two Faces of Exclusion was held on the 18th and 19th of July 2002 in Dublin Castle.
DAY 1
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Tony Geoghegan, Noel Aherne and
Gerry Raftery OFM |
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There were more than thirty speakers at the conference addressing a broad spectrum of issues. The conference was formally opened by Mr Noel Aherne TD, Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal and Minister for Community Affairs and Drugs Strategy.
The first sessions began with keynote speakers Ethan Nadlemann, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, USA and Jane Fountain Principal Lecturer (research) at the Centre for Ethnicity and Health, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK setting the scene from an international perspective.
In his talk, Ethan Nadelmann, argued that we need to acknowledge that drugs are here to stay and that prohibition of drugs has failed as a policy succeeding only in enriching criminals and in criminalizing large numbers of people. He advocated the decriminalisation of cannabis and the legal regulation of the drugs market. Ethan's talk stimulated much debate with mixed views on the wisdom of decriminalisation.
In her presentation Jane Fountain, spoke about the relationship between drug use and rough sleeping. In her research she found that of the rough sleepers she surveyed 83% were drug users. She criticised the UK government's Rough Sleepers Strategy arguing that
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The packed conference hall |
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the focus on reducing numbers means that the definition of sleeping rough has narrowed to the extent that rough sleepers are not counted if they are awake. She says that the government strategy is pushing people into methadone maintenance programmes and that it fails to address the long term needs of rough sleepers.
Focussing on the Irish context Sean Cassin of the National Drugs Strategy Team, gave a brief outline of the response to problem drug use in Ireland to date, from the moral panic of the 80's to the partnership approach in operation today. He identified difficulties with this approach e.g. community is defined in ways that exclude the drug user from representation, and conflicts between the social and medical models. Mary Higgins, Director of the Homeless Agency focused on the Dublin Homeless Action Plan. She argued that homelessness is solvable and outlined the details of the plan which focuses on research, service development and service integration.
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| Avril and Kathy on the MQI stand |
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In the afternoon there was a session devoted to identifying gaps in services, Mary O'Shea of Merchants Quay Ireland made the case for the establishment of safe injecting as a means of reducing drug related harm.
Another speaker Collette McGrath from the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Sydney, Australia discussed the experience of working in such a facility. Other gaps in services identified included services for young drug users and improved outreach services.
A separate session focussed on the diverse health needs of homeless persons and drug users with some lively discussion focussed on the best approaches to improving health status.
All delegates were invited to attend a conference dinner in St Patricks Hall, Dublin Castle on the evening of day one (July 18th)
DAY 2
The second day of the conference provided the opportunity to reflect on the current state of play in these fields and focused on developing better services, better policy and greater innovation.
Bill Edgar of the University of Dundee outlined the different perspectives on homelessness and provided some good practice guidelines suggesting there needs to be less focus on targets, more focus on outcome management and greater co-ordination of services.
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Dr Gemma Cox (Addiction Research Centre, TCD),
Sean Cassin ofm (National Drug Strategy Team),
Gabriel Kinahan ofm (MQI), Niamh Randall (MQI) and
Niamh Ryder (AddictionResearch Centre, TCD) |
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Tim Murphy who lecturers in Constitutional Law at UCC focussed on drugs policy. He discussed the issues of regulation, decriminalisation and legalisation and argued that criminal law in relation to drugs is not being used properly and that prohibition is causing more problems then it solves.
Some of the responses explored included service user representation and advocacy work, settlement and integration services, the involvement of service users in the design and development of information/harm reduction materials and the importance of specifically targeted awareness campaigns.
Another session looked at ways and means of influencing social policy. Kieran Murphy of Threshold talked about the use of the existing partnership structures and Anna Quigley of Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign focussed on the role of community action.
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Tim Murphy (Dept of Law, UCC),
Erin Nugent (Dublin Aids Alliance), Tommy Larkin (UISCE)
and Anne Nolan (Dublin Aids Alliance) |
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During the second day of the conference a separate room was given over to researchers to present research on drug use and homelessness.
Topics covered included: Harm Reduction Services For Dublin Street Addicts, The Health Status Of Female Drug Users, Hepatitis B Immunisation In Homeless Drug Users, HIV/Aids and Hepatitis In Irish Prisons and Opiate Related Deaths.
The conference was fully subscribed with over 200 delegates present travelling from England, Scotland, Sweden, Australia, Italy, the USA and of course Ireland.
All delegates participated fully and enthusiastically and there was much heated debate and discussion over the course of the two days.
Conference Supported by: The Homeless Agency and Combat Poverty Agency 
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