The Age | Life at the sharp end of Melbourne’s drug debate

On Breakfast with Jacinta Parsons and Sami Shah Despite complaints from some residents living near the safe injecting room in…

A PUSH for a drug injecting room trial in Melbourne is gaining momentum after unions, nurses, paramedics and firefighters backed…

By Neelima Choahan & Rochelle Kirkham Premier Daniel Andrews says he will not reconsider his opposition to recreational drug testing despite…

By Jewel Topsfield The state government has vowed to stick with the controversial two-year trial of the safe injecting room…

An outreach worker from a needle exchange program who was charged last week with trafficking heroin won an award last year for resuscitating multiple people who had overdosed. Matthew Honey, 49, of Richmond was presented with Yarra Drug and Health Reform’s Worker of the Year Award in 2018. “Matthew has saved people’s lives,” said Yarra Drug and Health Forum chairman Peter Wearne.

When residents were asked about drugs at Richmond’s public housing estate in 2011, many were scared about talking and being identified. “Our building is not a safe space. Buying and selling drugs go on, people having injections. A few households are involved in drug dealing,” one resident told a project initiated by the Richmond Estate Action Group. Tenants spoke of syringes all over the playground, stairwells and communal laundries. “Some children have witnessed violent incidents,” one resident said. “Big trouble with us with this building,” another said. “People poo and wee there.”